


Inheritance Past

by HawkTooth



Series: Two Worlds Collide [5]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Humor, Movie 2: How To Train Your Dragon 2, Tragedy, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-06-29 06:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 88,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19824703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawkTooth/pseuds/HawkTooth
Summary: Book 5 of the Two Worlds Collide series. Berk won the battle against Jezebel, but the fight is far from over. History still has its secrets to reveal, and the threat that looms upon the island is growing by the day. What is more, the past is about to pull the rug out from underneath Hiccup and the others, when a figure from Berk's own background returns.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> And welcome to Book 5! If you're one of those people who pays attention to all the tags, there are already probably a few spoilers set for what's to come, and you can probably tell this was written when HTTYD2 was just coming out too...oh, but there's so much more to come.   
> As always, if you haven't read (or at least skimmed) the previous books, you'll need to, otherwise I daresay you'll be a touch lost.

“Alchemist!”

Jezebel swept into the room, the flowing scarlet robes draping from her shoulders sweeping up clouds of dust from the floor as she headed for the table at the far end of the room. Hunched over the furniture piece and fidgeting with what appeared to be a leather harness studded with small jewels, was a person with the appearance of a young woman, with long, back-length light strawberry blonde hair and an outfit consisting of ankle-length pants and a loose apron-like tunic covered with dozens of pockets.

The younger woman looked up with tired eyes at the interruption. “Yes, Jezebel?” she asked softly.

“Is it ready yet?” Jezebel snapped. “I have but a few weeks to put everything into motion and I need the device in working order if I am going to have the necessary advantage. Though the beasts are big, and our ally well-endowed with the practices of war, there is only so much they can do for me.”

The alchemist sighed, clearly not wanting to have this discussion. “I told you already, I have not tried this technique before. Previous fields have been difficult to strengthen as it was, and this layout is far more complicated; several projection points and quantum layering are hard to synchronize. Once I have everything lined up, the field should be stable and I can copy the pattern. If you rush me, there’s always the chance you’ll just blow up when you activate it.” She turned back to the harness and grabbed a small stone out of its inset in the center, replacing it with a slightly larger, darker tinted version that was lying on the table nearby. Then she pressed the central stone, causing a glow to light up within, an electric spark running around the inset and carrying the glow into the several metallic veins spreading outward, connecting to gems around the entire vest. Soon the harness was completely aglow.

“There,” the alchemist said, “the first test is complete. It will take me a few tries to work out any residual kinks, but,” she held up the harness and handed it to Jezebel, who looked it over, nodded, and handed it back. “Good. Now, ensure that the rest will work as well. We can’t have all my infantry going down so easily this round.”

Jezebel turned and headed for the exit, before stopping and glancing over her shoulder. “And don’t forget, alchemist, if anything goes wrong and I find out that it was deliberate, I don’t need to remind you of what the consequences will be.” She held up a short silvery necklace, with an inset carrying an emerald dangling from the end.

The alchemist scowled. “Yes, I understand perfectly. And I do have my own name, you are aware.”

Jezebel only laughed. “So long as you work for me, your name is whatever I choose to call you.” With that, she disappeared out the door, leaving the woman alone in the room, the only sound to be heard being the hum of the energy running through the harness.

The alchemist pressed the central stone again, turning the device off, before looking slowly around the room. On the shelves and tables were dozens of stones, odd metals, and old devices and machines, each one either a weapon of destruction or a reminder of a past failure. She walked over to a dark corner, passing an electromagnetic circuit she had built over a hundred years before, and picked up a small piece of marble carved out to look like a group of hardened warriors; her family.

She looked at the piece for a few minutes, lost in the silence and her own memories. Then, putting the figure down on the table again, she sat down and wept. The drops fell for her family, for herself, and for what she knew she was about to enable. The tears flowed all the harder as she stayed there, just as she knew blood would in time.

* * *

In another corner of the world, deep inside the sculpted spaces of a rocky cavern, another figure stirred. A pair of emerald eyes opened, and glanced around at the hundreds of creatures that filled the space around her. Each one of them could be named, could be given an origin, could be called a friend, but there was something no longer right about them, a feeling that swept through the room. Many of them were stirring tensely, an unseen force pulling at them, beckoning them to steal away from their home.

The figure sat bolt upright, grabbing the curved blade at her side. Something was happening, something she knew she could not fight on her own, and something that would, after nineteen years of near-complete isolation, finally force her to come out of hiding.

Her mind briefly flashed to the past, of a memory of an island she had left so long ago she barely remembered what it looked like, and of a people who had rejected the knowledge she now held as utmost truth. Did she dare to reveal herself to them in this, to ask them for the help she knew she so soon would need? Was the action worth risking everything?

A flutter of wings nearby, echoed around the cavern, told her that if another option did not present itself shortly, she would have no other choice.


	2. Celestial Signals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As one may note seeing the quote below, this tale will begin with some aspects drawn from my faith. Forewarning if anyone doesn't like that sort of things, but also be aware it's crucial for the story too.

_“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, the nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.”-Luke 21:25_

“Are you really sure this is a good idea?”

I glanced at my mom as everyone piled into the car. “Look, it’s been more than a year since everyone learned about me, and at least a handful of people around here already know them. This is a group we can trust, mostly, and besides, they wanted to learn more about what we do and celebrate and this is a very important night, and so on, so forth.” She sighed as she sat down. “Alright, alright, but if anything happens tonight it will be labeled as your fault and your responsibility to deal with.”

All this was in reference to the three extra passengers in the car with my family: Hiccup, Astrid and Ember. It was the evening of April the 14th, the night of Pesach, or Passover for you non-Hebrew speakers. We were traveling to a gathering in a nearby town to celebrate with our fellowship, and the trio wanted to tag along to experience this event. It was also going to be a full lunar eclipse that night, something considered highly important when it coincided with a feast day, especially when it was to be the first of four in two years that would occur.

To make everything even more important, this night would be the first of many where the two worlds I was involved in would finally be coming together; a lot hinged on this going down without issue.

I’m not stupid of course. I wasn’t going to start taking all the teens to the mall on a crowded Saturday afternoon dressed in their usual garbs, but family-and-friends gatherings were a good start to introduce the concept to both sides. Plus, this was supposed to be a fun night with acting, plays and food provided for a lot of guests, so the three tagalongs would be able to blend in a little better.

I glanced at Hiccup, who had borrowed a button-down blue shirt and green pants from me for the night, and then to the seat behind us where Holly was sitting with Astrid and Ember. My sister had insisted she help pick out the two girls’ “modern” outfits, and so both were dressed smartly in fashions not overly girly but flashy enough as well. Astrid was sporting a blue-patterned long-sleeved blouse and matching dress pants, while Ember was wearing a fair-fitting dress colored in various autumn greens and browns. Both of them looked very nice for the occasion, and as we started up the car to head out, I caught Hiccup staring back at Astrid more than once.

Elbowing him in the ribs, I earned a stifled yelp and an “Ow!” as Hiccup turned to glare at me. “She’s not going to suddenly disappear between now and the next five minutes, you know,” I teased, snickering. Hiccup only blushed as Astrid stifled a giggle of her own. I glanced back to find Holly and Ember smiling in amusement at Hiccup’s expense as well.

“Alright all of you, behave so we can get going,” my dad said, sitting down in the driver’s seat. “Buckle your seatbelts too.” Astrid and Hiccup quickly strapped themselves in, while Ember only looked blankly at the buckles, never having ridden in a car before. Holly smiled and reached over to help her, and soon enough everyone was ready to go.

After a couple years of flying everywhere, I soon discovered that being stuck in a car is immensely boring. Twenty minutes up to the destination, and I could tell I wasn’t the only one who was getting antsy either. Hiccup and Astrid were both fidgeting the whole way, though Ember kept herself busy watching out the windows. So, naturally when we got there, everyone immediately spilled out of the car, grabbing what they could to help and heading toward the building in an effort to move around a little.

Once we had all grabbed our belongings, we all headed into the building. We were borrowing the space in the back of a store that specialized in everything Israel-related, and as we stepped through the doorways everyone’s eyes began roaming the books, jewelry and decorations that filled the room before we passed by the curtains separating the two spaces. Having arrived early, most everything was yet to be set up, and our friend and coordinator of the event, Kelly, was waiting for us to arrive and help out.

“Hi Hawken!” she called upon seeing me. “Long time no see!” She walked up and gave me a hug, and I smiled and hugged her back as best as I could with bags on my arms. “Hi Kelly. We brought along some friends to see what we were up to tonight.” I turned and gestured to the trio standing awkwardly by the curtains. Kelly turned and saw them, and opened her arms wide. “Well, then, welcome! We’re all friends here in fellowship. I’m Kelly, that’s my husband John over there,” she pointed to the man helping line up tables for the food. I, in turn, gestured again to the three, one at a time. “This is Ember, Hiccup and Astrid,” I said. “Feel free to enlist them in helping any way you need them to as well.”

Now I saw Kelly’s face spark in a moment of confusion. “Huh. You know, your names sound rather familiar,” she noted, before stepping back and shrugging. “Ah, well, anyway, if you could help get the tables and chairs set up it would be much appreciated.” Then her attention turned to Holly, the next one in, and my sister received the same treatment I did. “And if you will help me get the decorations set up, that would be fantastic!”

I smiled again as Holly was put to work, before dragging the three that were with me over to the tables. “Grab the other end, will you Hiccup?” I asked as I pulled on one end of the table in the stack. Hiccup complied, setting down the plastic-ware he was carrying and grabbing the other end, hefting it up as we carried it across the room. “Aren’t you –oof!- strong enough to lift one of these on your own?” he wondered as we moved out of the way for Astrid and Ember to grab the next one. “Yes,” I replied, “but it’s hard to keep something longer than you are tall balanced as you carry it from one end. Besides, you need the workout.” “Hey! I’m getting a lot stronger as the days go by,” Hiccup protested. “I’m not the twig I once was.” “Oh, come on, you still can’t even beat me in an arm wrestling contest,” Astrid remarked nearby. I snickered as Hiccup sent her a glare.

As the tables were set up, the other attendees began arriving, and the room began to fill to capacity. We were expecting well over 90 people that night, so soon enough every seat was filled, and everything was ready for us to begin the service. The four of us (me and the Berkians) stayed near the back of the room, in our seats, to keep the reactions from people randomly recognizing the two famous Vikings to a bare minimum. Ember was okay here, as no one knew about her, but Hiccup is…well, he’s someone you just know if you’ve seen him before. Same thing with Astrid.

“Alright, if everyone will take their seats, let’s begin!” Kelly called, drawing the attention of the room. The crowd moved to take their respective seats, and Kelly and the other coordinators of the service took their spots near the “front” of the room, where the projector screen had been set up, and a set of words I knew by heart appeared on display. “Tonight we will start by saying the Sh’ma,” Kelly spoke. “I know a lot of you are guests to this, so sing along with the words on the screen if you can, otherwise join with the English translation afterward.” She paused for a moment, and I closed my eyes as we began, reciting from memory. There were two versions, but this one I knew the best.

“Sh’ma Israel, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad. Baruch shem k’vod, malchuto, ley’olam vayed….”

A familiar voice caught my attention, and I opened my eyes to see Ember singing along as well, a soft smile on her face.

“…ha Maschiach, who Adonai. Amen.” Ember opened her eyes and noticed my staring, giving me a confused look in response. “So, you know that song?” I asked. She chuckled in reply. “I am a Hebrew believer from Israel, even if from another world.” I nodded, smiling, and turned back to face Kelly.

* * *

The service that night was a little bit backward from the Pesach celebrations I was typically used to, with the meal served first and followed by the teaching. Kelly and John had enlisted many of the kids and teens, myself included, in helping narrate the story of Passover in her own unique manner, and videos and stories were implicated to help. The teaching was basic, as it wasn’t only Hiccup and Astrid who were unfamiliar with it that night, but there was also still knowledge to be had for the rest of the attendees. Thank goodness though, that the two newbies with me held back their questions for afterward. Ember, on the other hand, was more open with sharing what she’d been taught, and was quickly labeled as a well-versed believer.

Too much talking though puts people to sleep, so as the sun began to descend outside what followed was my favorite part: dancing and praise. Kelly and many of our friends attending were gifted singers and dancers, the former also being a writer of her own songs. Many of the kids and dancers took up banners and streamers to wave as the music started up, and I had been smart and brought my own this time, offering some to the trio with me.

“Uh, no thanks, I’ve got two left feet,” Hiccup declined, a sheepish grin on his face. I gave him an arched eyebrow and readied a reply, when Astrid cut in. “I think I’ll just sit here with him too, and watch.”

“Oh, come on you two,” I chastised, “you were the ones who really wanted a taste of”- “I’ll take one, just let them miss out,” Ember interrupted, taking one of the multicolor flags in my hand and moving toward the open space on the floor, grinning pointedly at Hiccup and Astrid. I smiled in response, and turned again to the reluctant duo. “Well, at least it’s good to know someone knows how to celebrate,” I commented, moving away before Astrid could protest and heading as well toward the clear space, joining everyone else who was there with their banners.

How do I describe what happens next? It’s impossible to put a finger on the feeling that appears; music flows with the dancing feet and the twirling streamers, many of the adults and older kids joining in the dance group in the center of the room and playing out an elaborate story with their movements, and a rhythm that pervades the whole congregation that is never found elsewhere.

Ember and I waved our flags and danced throughout the room, following our own pattern or occasionally joining the line of flags moving through the space and weaving through the dancers and crowd alike, both of us singing as best we could when we caught the words. Halfway through I finally managed to glance at the two Vikings, and found them clapping along with the music and swaying back and forth, huge grins on their faces.

The celebratory portion continued even as portions of the crowd began to disperse, heading out and leaving for home. It was a week night after all, but even then many of us stayed, helping clean up before commencing dancing again as it got later. Before too many people left however, Kelly slowed the dancing and called our attention again.

“As some of you know, tonight is the first of four feast nights over the next two years that will coincide with a full lunar eclipse,” she announced. “Those of you who wish to stay can join John and I as we continue to dance and sing, and then when it is time we will head outside to witness this amazing natural phenomenon.”

“I thought you mentioned something about a blood moon tonight,” Hiccup whispered, looking at me confusedly. I chuckled. “It’s the same thing,” I explained. “Lunar eclipses are nicknamed blood moons for their color.” “Oh. Why?” I just smiled and shook my head. “Don’t worry, you’ll see soon enough.”

My parents and sister were not planning on staying that night however, as Holly had school the next morning (so did I, but not until later), and Mom and Dad both had work to attend to, so as they exited the building I ran over and caught their arms.

“Can I ask you a favor?” I inquired, grabbing one of the totes we brought along and helping carry it to the car. “The others and I want to stay and watch for the eclipse here, so would it be possible for one of you to take Holly to school tomorrow instead?” A moment of silence before my mother sighed. “I suppose,” she said. “Just don’t stay out too late, you have college tomorrow as well.” “I know, but this isn’t a common occurrence.” I turned to head back in, when my dad called my name again. “If you can bring home the last few things inside that would be appreciated as well,” he said. I nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

As I entered the building once more, I found Ember having finally managed to drag Astrid and Hiccup to their feet and out onto the floor, getting them to dance to a simple song that was playing at the moment.

“Way to go, Ember!” I called, startling all three of them. “You finally got the benchwarmers up!” “Don’t count on it lasting,” Hiccup warned, only for Ember to laugh and drag them along the line. I laughed as well as I caught the line’s end and joined in.

Finally, at nearly 1:00 in the morning, the dancing died down, and those that remained (a good couple dozen people, surprisingly) filed out the door and into the parking lot to watch the sight. The moon was high above us, bright white at the moment, but beginning to change colors already, the hints of tan coloring one edge.

“So, what causes an eclipse exactly?” Astrid asked as she looked upward. I smiled. “The shadow of the earth blocks sunlight from reflecting off the moon,” I explained, “kind of like if Hiccup was to stand behind Stoick, and Stoick faced the sun, so that he cast a shadow over Hiccup. Here, the moon is covered by earth’s shadow.”

I could see Hiccup pouting as I used his small size as an example (despite him reaching my height already he was much smaller than his father), so I shrugged. “What? The comparison works; it’s not like you could cast a shadow over your father.” The snort Hiccup gave off only earned a snicker from Astrid.

For a few minutes, we watched as the moon continued to darken, the rusty colors filling the normally white sphere. Then, as I looked on, a chill suddenly swept down my spine. Something felt off, different, and watching the eclipse reach its climax only made the sensation worse. I happened to glance at Ember, to see if I was the only one, and immediately found the reason why.

“Ember!” I whispered loudly. She turned to look at me, confused, so I speed-walked over and pulled her hair back to cover her neck. “Hey! What gives?” she snapped, pulling away and brushing out her hair. “Sshh!” I urged. “Your birthmark is glowing!”

The flame-shaped mark she’d had on her neck since she was born was indeed fluorescing, a strange silvery sheen lighting up her skin. Ember quieted immediately, before pulling her hair down as I had, and then fixating on my forehead.

“Uh, that spiral on your forehead is doing the same thing,” she whispered back. I grimaced and pulled my thick hair down as well, hiding the spiral on my forehead. Then, I turned to alert Hiccup and Astrid.

“We need to go,” I said. “Do me a favor and grab the tote still inside and then meet right back here. I need to tell Kelly we’re leaving.” “Why do we have to leave?” Astrid asked. I lifted up my hair, and her eyes widened, before she mouthed a silent “oh,” and turned toward the building.

I turned and headed for Kelly, keeping my hair down and my expression as neutral as I could. “Sorry Kelly, but I’m afraid we have to leave,” I said. “It was great seeing you again, and I apologize for the sudden exit.” She gave me a quizzical look. “The eclipse isn’t over yet,” she noted. “Are you sure”- she cut off when I moved my hair slightly, letting part of the mark show.

“Oh,” she said. “Why are you glowing?” “I don’t know, but I’m not causing it,” I said, noticing a couple people looking at me with odd expressions. I flashed an awkward smile, before looking at Kelly again. “It’s why I need to leave, but I didn’t want to just skip out and not tell you I left.”

Kelly nodded, before stepping forward and giving me a hug. “Well, glad you could come, and I hope your friends had fun too. Now you’d better get moving.” I nodded, before turning and heading toward Hiccup and Astrid, Ember falling into step next to me. I knelt down, morphing Shadowracer and gesturing with my head. “Come on, we need to go!”

They climbed on quickly enough, Astrid balancing the tote in her hands as she sat between Hiccup and Astrid, and I lifted off, camouflaging myself and my passengers from those below. Halfway back, I heard a gasp escape Hiccup, followed by some unintelligible murmur from Astrid.   
“Uh, Hawken, something’s happening,” Ember said slowly. “What, to our marks?” I queried back. “No,” she replied, “to theirs.”

That spurred me to move a lot faster. Neither Hiccup nor Astrid had any really defining marks or scars (save a line Hiccup had on his chin), so as soon as we landed in my back yard and they jumped off, I morphed back and turned to see what Ember was talking about.

At the base of Hiccup’s neck, on the right side, a glowing patch had formed, jagged and somewhat spidery in shape. There was no mistaking that pattern: a lightning bolt. And Astrid held up her arm; halfway up to her elbow, a silvery outline like a pair of crossed swords had formed.

“What on earth is going on here?” she demanded. “I’ve seen at least one eclipse before, but nothing like this happened last time. Why is my skin glowing? And for that matter, why did your marks light up too?” I shook my head, replying, “I haven’t the faintest clue. And unfortunately it’s getting too late to really figure anything out. We should find the rest of the gang as well; maybe it’s not just us.”

“It’s also nearly 1:30 in the morning,” Hiccup pointed out. “Like you said, it’s getting really late, and everyone will be asleep save for the night guards. If we need to find everyone else, it will have to wait until tomorrow.”

I sighed. “And I do have classes tomorrow, so I’ll only have an hour in the morning to do anything. You three can sleep here tonight; we’ll set up the mattresses downstairs, and as soon as we get up tomorrow we’ll go to the village and find out if it was just us, or a wider phenomenon.” I turned to go inside, but Hiccup stopped me and pointed to my forehead. “One more thing: your mark’s gone,” he noted. I reached up and felt my forehead, and sure enough, the spiral of scales that had been there for so long was nowhere to be found.


	3. Symbolic

_Every heart is made by hand_

_Their talents to each their own_

_No single soul is mirror to another_

_Not one a copied frame_

_A one-off heart though, is not complete_

_The edges marked and scarred_

_Each fits to another, and they to more_

_Combined then they are whole_

“So, any ideas in particular why we’re all branded now, and you’re not anymore?” Astrid asked the next morning. “I mean, you still have your gifts; nothing else changed.”

I shook my head as we headed out the back door onto the deck. “No, turns out I still have my own pattern,” I replied, pulling up my sleeve and turning my arm over. There, just above my wrist on my forearm, was the spiral of scales that had formerly decorated my forehead. There was one, very notable, difference however: in the very center, a symmetric pattern resembling a menorah was formed of small, golden scales, and the pale white spiral spun out from it.

We all had just gotten up, having slept for a fair amount of time that morning while my father took Holly to school. Now, we were about to head into Berk and find the other teens, or anyone else who might have noticed something strange. “Let’s wait to discuss the rest of this until we’re actually in the village,” I suggested, heading out through the grass and to the portal. On the other side of the shimmering divide, the trio’s dragons had spent the night waiting, and as we stepped through they quickly bombarded me with questions (okay, so we had forgotten to let them know about the impromptu sleepover, and they were worried). Once those were answered, the other teens mounted their dragons and we took off.

It had rained on the island the night before, so the air was thick with swirling fog. Normally there would still be snow on the ground at this time of year, but ever since the fight with Jezebel, and subsequently the diversion of the bomb energy I had conducted, Berk and the surrounding area had been experiencing a localized early spring. Not that anyone was complaining about the nicer weather, however.

Anyway, as we glided through the fog, I morphed to a Mist Dragon, blending in and enjoying being out of view, and we approached the village square. Somewhat unsurprisingly there was a gaggle of Vikings below, most notably the rest of the gang as well as Stoick. As we landed, Snotlout zeroed in on me and marched forward, holding up his arm in accusation.

“I don’t have an issue with scars or birthmarks or whatever, but when they just appear in the middle of the night for no good reason I’m blaming you,” he vented.

“No, actually Snotlout, they appeared at the same time as the eclipse last night,” Fishlegs spoke up. “Remember, I was the one who went around waking you all up because I found them first?” “Yeah, well, I’m still blaming Hawken,” Snotlout deferred, glaring at me. “So, what did you do?”

“He didn’t,” Hiccup answered instead. “They happened on their own, and it was triggered by the eclipse like Fishlegs said.” He turned his head, bearing the bolt across his own neck. “Even Hawken’s little scale thing changed places and appearances for some reason.”

“Well, do ye have some idea why this occurred?” Stoick asked. “I’ve checked with the other villagers, you six are the only ones who had something like this show up.”

We all shook our heads. “Not yet,” I replied, “but I’ve got a guess, even if rudimentary. Perhaps we should head up to the house so we can actually get down to the bottom of this.” With agreement from the others, we all headed up single file to the chief’s house, and went inside to gather around the table. Most of the dragons stayed outside of course, though Toothless followed us in and lay down in the corner by the fireplace.

I glanced around the table. “Alright, so I already know Astrid has what looks like a pair of crossed blades on her arm, and Hiccup has a lightning bolt on his neck.” “I also found this earlier this morning,” Hiccup interjected, turning his arm over and revealing his left wrist. Just above it on his arm was a shape not unlike that of the Viking symbol for the Strike Class, a Night Fury with wings hooded and half open, and its tail curving inward toward its body.

I frowned. “Okay, that complicates things. Uh, Snotlout, what about you?” The burly teen held up his arm again, revealing a darkened patch that looked like a decorated war hammer. “Your guys’ all look cooler than mine,” he grumbled. I shrugged. “Why, what does Fishlegs have?”

Said Viking pulled the collar of his vest down, revealing on his neck what looked like an etching of a scroll, and within the scroll, three letters that were unmistakably Hebrew. I was still rusty with my understanding of the Hebraic alphabet, so I looked to Ember. “So, can you read that?” I asked. She nodded and walked over to Fishlegs, who blushed slightly at the close proximity, but tilted his head so she could get a better view. After a couple seconds of scrutiny she looked at me, then at Fishlegs. “It’s one word, says ‘emet’. It means truth.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tuffnut asked. I smirked. “I think it means Fishlegs has been officially marked as the scholar of the group.” “Why do you say that?” Fishlegs queried. “You have a scroll that says ‘truth’ on your neck,” I explained. “You’re a gatherer of knowledge, though maybe it means that skill is going to be enhanced somehow. Perhaps it’s your job to decipher what everyone here needs to know when we encounter something new.”

Suddenly a thought occurred to me, and I sat bolt upright. “That’s it!” “What’s it?” Ember looked at me quizzically, followed by everyone else. I gestured to the marks again. “That’s what they’re probably for. They’re symbols, our strengths or representations of what we are in the team. Remember what Odin said when we met them the first time?”

“Yeah, how we were going to be a great team from here on out,” Astrid replied. “So we’ve been marked like you were, to portray that?” I nodded. “And mine changed to reflect that. A menorah is a balance, a mirror to multiple parts of one object that complete each other. I was the first, so in a way I hold the team where it is.” I pointed to Fishlegs then, followed by Snotlout. “Fish, you’re the bookworm, the scholar in the group. You decipher what’s reality, and what’s not. Snotlout, you and Fireworm are probably the best examples of blunt force in the group, intimidation and strength. That’s what the hammer on your arm means.”

“What about us?” Tuffnut asked, holding out his arm. “Ruff and I both have these odd spears.” Indeed, on their wrists were identical images of serrated spears, both ends bearing a different kind of blade; one long, the other short and curved. I grinned. “You’re both fast, reckless, adaptable. You’re better suited for battle than everyday life, and we’ve all seen this. And you both are of the same talent, so you both have the same symbol.” I glanced at the two remaining girls. “Ember, we already know what your birthmark-slash-symbol stands for: temperature control, fire. And Astrid: swords are weapons of speed, skill, and intelligence. You’re fast, the best warrior here, and you have extreme talent in hands-on combat. You’re a tactical master.”

Then, I turned to Hiccup. “We already know what yours mean as well,” I toned, smiling. “The lightning bolt on your neck is like the power Framherja wields. It’s also speed, intelligence, and electricity is a major factor in technology and invention so I think that part speaks for itself.”

“Like there’s anyone who doesn’t know he’s an inventor,” Astrid drawled. I nodded. “And, of course, the dragon symbol I think mostly explains itself. Dragons might listen to; respect me, but they _like_ you. You’re the dragon whisperer.” Hiccup shrugged. “Yeah, okay, so I do have a knack for getting along with dragons, but I don’t see why I need to be marked for it,” he said.

The smile appeared on my face again. “I think I do.” I walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Then, I gestured for Toothless to join us, and he got up and padded over to Hiccup’s side, where I placed a hand on his head as well. I looked at both of them intently, before closing my eyes and focusing for a second. A wave of energy rolled through my arms, and I felt both Hiccup and Toothless flinch for a second. Then, I opened my eyes and stepped back.

Hiccup blinked, scratching his neck, before looking at me oddly. “Uh, okay, what was that?” he queried. I chuckled. “You’ll find out soon enough,” I replied, glancing from him to Toothless. “Both of you will.”

A buzz went off in my pocket, and I reached down and pulled out my phone. “What are you doing?” Hiccup asked. “Checking the time, what else?” I replied, flipping the phone open. “I do, unfortunately, have other things to do for a couple more weeks before I can just….oh, crap, I’m late for college!”

I turned and started for the door. “Sorry for skipping out so suddenly, but I wasn’t planning on staying here that long,” I apologized, pulling the door open.

<Have fun!> Toothless barked sarcastically, knowing just how much I hated being in school. I turned to send him a glare as I backed out the door, and managed to catch the growing look of shock and disbelief on Hiccup’s face. I grinned and replied, <Don’t worry, I will. Hey Hiccup, catching on yet?>

I laughed as I spread a pair of wings and took off, leaving both Viking and Night Fury with floored expressions as the others stared at them in confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always with chapters that feature them, I'd love to know what people think of the poems. As for the chapter: I know, it was a bit cheesy, and back to being a little Mary Sue as everyone's got some sort of gift now, but hey, writing for fun, and it will be extremely important later on, so just bear with me and keep following along...


	4. Metal Magic

“GOOD GOD WHY??!!”

I burst out laughing as Hiccup stared, horrorstruck, at the laptop screen in front of him. Unsurprisingly, curiosity had finally got the better of the Viking, and he’d finally gotten around to asking me how to use a computer.

Okay, so granted that in itself doesn’t sound worthy of an outburst like Hiccup had just released, until one realizes he had asked me to show him the website with all the stories I had been reading about his original movie. There are some amazing tales people have thought up, but unfortunately, bad always comes with good. Right alongside the great stories, there are also things that would make any person in their right mind recoil with disgust or horror (one reason I had become very, very picky about what I read on there), and Hiccup had managed to stumble on one of the worst.

He glanced over his shoulder at me. “This is sick! Why on earth would people imagine things like this?!” he vented. I shrugged. “Eh, probably for the same reason every other twisted thing exists in this world, or yours. You learn to spot which stories are good reading, and which ones are demented just from the summaries usually.”

Hiccup took another disgusted look at the screen, before quickly closing the tab. “Ugh. If the stories people write are like that, I would absolutely hate to see what kind of pictures or art they come up with to go with it.” I shuddered. “Yeah, stumbled across that a couple times; wouldn’t recommend it.” He nodded in agreement before getting up out of the chair and closing the computer completely.

We stepped out the back door, and headed in the direction of the portal. “So, you wouldn’t happen to have any extra time today, would you?” he asked. I reached down into my pocket and glanced at my phone. “Eh, about four hours or so before I have to pick up Holly, plus I don’t have to work for a couple days yet, so I have a little.”

That was one good thing about college: while there aren’t many days off during the actual semester (just wall-to-wall school days), I did get out practically the first week of May (three finals don’t count, in my opinion), while my poor sister was stuck in middle school for another month yet. Save for work, I now had all sorts of time on my hands.

“Great, because Ember and I were hoping to get your opinion on what to do with that odd metal,” Hiccup continued. I nodded. “Yeah, was wondering about that stuff. With the last couple weeks I’d forgotten to take a closer look. It’s similar to an alloy in one of those stories like you just read (Hiccup gave another grimace, making me smile); the author called it myssteel, which while I might change the pronunciation a little, I kind of like.” We stepped through the portal, greeted by Toothless as we did so, and as soon as Hiccup mounted his saddle we took off.

“By the way, you have been pretty busy for the past month or so, so I never did get the chance to talk to you about what you did to Toothless and I,” Hiccup drawled. I smirked in response. “Oh? And how’s the experience been so far?” I queried innocently. “Well, other than the fact that I’ve heard an obscene level, pun intended, of conversations from the more wild dragons about the approaching mating season in a month or two, it’s been rather interesting,” he replied, then patted Toothless on the head. “Oh, and I also understand just a little bit better why this one gets on your nerves occasionally. Are we really so sarcastic that it’s rubbed off that much on him?”

Toothless only nodded, and I snickered. “Well, can’t be too surprising it’d rub off,” I said. “Yeah, but you don’t have to live with him,” Hiccup countered. “No, but I do have to deal with Holly on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Which would you put down as worse?”

There was a bout of silence as the Viking thought this one over, before he sighed. “Okay, I think you win that one.” I chuckled again, then focused on the dragon. “And what about you Toothless? Any interesting changes?”

Toothless glanced over at me, and smirked. “I scared the pants off Stoick when I suddenly started talking like this all of a sudden instead of Dragonese a few days ago,” he replied, the smirk growing into a grin. “Oh, and a couple villagers here and there got the same.” “Well, good to know it’s working for you then,” I replied. “Or, at least entertaining you.”

Yeah, okay, so some people are going to think that I’m insane for doing that, letting Toothless speak English and Hiccup understand Dragonese, but there was good reason for it. There is no more iconic a dragon than Toothless, and Hiccup was already incredibly close to the dragons, so a little extra communication there never hurts. Plus, the next time we got into a skirmish (it was a question of when, not if) and Hiccup and I both had our hands full, it would be best if they didn’t have to find me for quick translations when necessary.

We landed in front of the smithy, and sauntered in to find Gobber and Ember sifting through a pile of the fragments of metal they’d stored away in the nearby shed, with Astrid looking on from nearby. Ember looked up as we walked in, and held up a large shard, gleaming like it had been freshly polished.

“While you two were off and away, we tried melting this stuff in the bellows,” she said, “and nothing happened.” “Aye, and it got quite warm, but not a thing could bend it,” Gobber added. He hobbled over to one of the work benches and picked up a large iron hammer, one that now sported an impressive dent straight down the middle. “This is the hardest hammer I’ve got, an’ it’s been warped! I’ll have te reshape it entirely later.”

I nodded. “Yeah, Mysteel is pretty tough stuff.” “Mysteel?” “Similar to a name from another of those stories I read, and one I happened to like. It seems to fit here; an extremely strong, shiny metal, though our version appears to lack the magical properties of the fictional version, thank goodness.”

Gobber nodded, clearly in deep thought now, as he gazed at the pile. “So…how do we melt this stuff so that we can use it?” He picked up a shard again and looked it over, lost. I held out my hand, and he handed me the piece.  
“It’s going to get pretty hot right here,” I warned, and as the others backed up to a safe distance, I focused on heating my hands up. The temperature skyrocketed as they began to glow red, then turn practically white with heat. The Mysteel shard changed color only slightly, dulling to a barely glowing molten red before beginning to puddle in my hands.

“It takes temperatures at least equal to Toothless’ fire, around 3500 degrees Fahrenheit or more, to actually melt it,” I said, and gestured to Ember. “You might be able to produce enough heat to do so, but otherwise you’ll need Toothless or one of the Nadders to help when working this stuff. I’m pretty sure the bellows would begin to melt before the metal will.”

I glanced at Hiccup. “Mind grabbing me a small mold somewhere that we can use?” He nodded and walked over to the other end of the shop, rummaging through a pile of who-knows-what and returning with a small metal mold designed for a dagger. I nodded and, after he set it down, poured the metal into the hole on the end. After a few seconds, the glow disappeared from within and the metal began solidifying.

I touched the outside of the mold and flash-cooled it, allowing for the mold to be opened to reveal a solid metal dagger, albeit with somewhat ragged edges. Carefully, I heated my fingers and squeezed the sides down to a uniform razor edge, and held it out to Gobber. “Got something to test it on?” I asked. He took it carefully in his large hand, and looked around. After a minute he took out a thick oak log from under his desk.

“This is one o’ the ones I use fer testing axes,” he explained, “but considering what this stuff did te our shields a couple months ago, better safe than sorry. And, Ah’m curious as te just how well something this small works.”

He set up the log on a flat rock outside, balancing it so it wouldn’t roll away before, lining up the small blade carefully, he swung the dagger down toward the wood.

Nothing happened. At first, it looked like Gobber had missed the target completely. Then, he pulled the blade of the dagger out from the rock underneath the log and held it up. Not even a scratch was present on the surface.

“Tha’ works better than I thought it would,” he noted, “considerin’ how light it is.” He looked back down toward the target, and a moment later, the oak log rolled off its perch, two perfect halves traveling in separate directions and revealing the deep, clean groove cut into the stone’s surface as well.

I glanced at the teens, and immediately noticed Astrid, with a smile quickly spreading across her face. “Alright, dibs on a new axe,” she said excitedly. I chuckled. “Oh, I think we’re going to do more than that,” I commented. “This is too good to waste; we’re going to outfit everyone, starting now.”

* * *

The next three hours were spent in the smithy, working the odd metal as best as we could and molding it into all sorts of new shapes. It was slow going, as while both Ember and I had an advantage, being we could melt the metal in our hands, only I had the experience from hanging around Hiccup to shape the finalized pieces. Hiccup and Gobber meanwhile had to rely on Toothless’ help to melt the Mysteel, and it took some practice but they managed to eventually figure out how to use the dragon as an effective smelter.

Our first project was simple: we fashioned entirely new models of the team swords that Astrid, Hiccup, Camicazi and I already carried, except this time we made one for each of the teens. The swords turned out better this time around than I had hoped, and with my and Hiccup’s refined practice the carved names and symbols turned out clearer and more concise, everything refined perfectly using a little magnetic manipulation. And, like the dagger, we quickly discovered that they had the capacity to split stone.

“Remind me not to give these to the twins until they actually need them,” Hiccup commented, holding the pair meant for the two rambunctious teens. I nodded in agreement. “Yep, let’s store them away until we’re actually in the middle of battle.”

Following that, came Astrid’s new axe, complete with a carved metal handle, and she and Hiccup both requested an extra sword, just in case. Then came a pair of curved katana-style swords for Cami, and Hiccup said he was going to hold on to them and install something a little extra to fit the mischievous heir.

We built a pair of double-sided spears for Ruff and Tuff, and a set of heavy hammers each for Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Thuggory. We also found it fitting to make a short sword for Fish.

Within the space of a few hours, we’d managed to produce standard weapons for nearly everyone in the team, and upon a glance within the storage shed, we had barely dented the supply as well. One last project was left, though, and in the hour I had left before I had to pick up Holly I intended to finish it for our newest team member.

I turned to Ember, a knowing smile on my face. “There’s still the matter of your weapon of choice,” I said. She shrugged. “Arrows aren’t hard to make,” she replied. I nodded. “Yes, but we’re going to make something a little different, special.” Turning, I grabbed a small mug off one of the shelves above Gobber’s work bench.

“Oi! What are ye plannin’ te use that fer?” he queried. “Harvesting,” I said, grinning and exposing my teeth. I felt the two upper canines in my mouth lengthen and hollow out, and carefully I hooked the tips over the edge of the mug. Focusing, I felt muscles squeeze down on the sides of my face, and from the two fangs, venom began to drip down, collecting in the bottom of the container. Soon, there was a small pool of the potent yellowish liquid in the mug, and I set it carefully on the bench.

“I’ll find a more permanent container for it later, or make one,” I noted. “Piffleworm venom is probably one of the most potent compounds I can think of, and we’re going to make Ember some arrows that can carry it.”

Unsurprisingly, they all looked at me oddly. “Out of curiosity, why?” Hiccup asked. “How many times does any archer manage to make a killing shot on the first try?” I countered. “If we’re on the battlefield, a quick win is always the best. Piffleworm venom acts within 30 seconds or less, even if it’s just a small scratch to the arm.” I held up the mug again. “And even with just this, we have a lot to work with. The only problem is,” I glanced at both Hiccup and Gobber, “I’m not exactly sure how to make an arrowhead that will hold the venom.”

There was silence for a moment, then Hiccup disappeared into his back room. We all heard papers rustling around, followed by a *CRASH!!* “Ow!”

“What are ye doin’ in there, Hiccup?” Gobber asked, hobbling toward the doorway and sticking his head into the back room.

“Remember that bow we made when Orhaganuz made his first visit here?” Hiccup called out. “And Ingavar?”

Toothless growled in response. <Please don’t tell me you kept that thing around,> he muttered. Hiccup reappeared with a few sheets of paper under his arm, smiling and shaking his head. “No, don’t worry, I got rid of it, but I kept a couple of the charts and diagrams we had for it.” He moved some things out of the way and unrolled the sheets on Gobber’s desk. Then he pointed to the schematic, which showed the design we had made for holding pieces of eel in the arrowheads.

“These were designed to break apart on impact, but if we made the inner compartments smaller, and the sides of the head fully attached to one another, each of the four sides would all hold small pockets of venom.” Hiccup turned and walked over to the pile of Mysteel and picked up a small sliver. “If I’m right, too little weight at the tip and it won’t fly, so it would be best to make the heads out of steel and then coat them in the Mysteel, but the shafts and fletching we can make out of pure Mysteel. That means they can be really thin, and we can make a lot too. Hundreds could be carried in one quiver without issue.”

He gestured to the scrap storage shed outside. “If someone would go grab some of the steel we’ve got, we can get started on this right away. There’s no way we’ll be finishing a couple hundred, but at least a few dozen for now.”

* * *

After an hour, using the thinnest mold we could find, Ember and I had crafted over a hundred shafts, though I was stuck making the fletching since no one else could shape them quite right (magnetic control is wonderful for that sort of thing). At the same time, Hiccup and Gobber spent half that time arguing about how to make the arrowheads (and Astrid spent her time yelling at the two of them to quit acting like five-year-olds), so finally when they got it sorted out and determined that they could coat the heads by dipping them into the molten Mysteel for a very short time, we had only a small handful of completed arrows.

“Want to test one?” Ember asked, holding up one of the finished items. She tried to bend it, since the shaft was thinner than your average pencil, and it didn’t budge. “Without the venom of course,” she amended. “It certainly feels sturdy enough.”

I nodded. “I’ve got like five minutes before I need to leave and pick up Holly, so I can stick around to watch you guys test one.”

“Use this,” Gobber said, lifting up a different kind of heavy oak target, one designed for archery, “an’ make sure tha’ no one’s in the way when ye fire.” I smirked and took the shield, walking outside and setting it up in the clear plaza out front. No one was nearby, oddly enough considering it was midafternoon, though a shadow did pass by overhead signifying Orha had returned to the shop to see what was going on. After he landed, wisely out of the path of the target, I moved out of the way and signaled Ember that it was clear.

She nodded, and pulled out her bow, stringing the arrow and taking aim. After a couple seconds she pulled the string taut, lined up, and fired.

There was a whistling noise and a flash as the arrow passed by, glinting in the overcast light, and then only the slightest scraping noise sounded as it passed into, and _through_ , the target.

Carefully, I walked up to the target, and found only the wider fletching still barely visible sticking out of dead center. The arrowhead itself was embedded halfway through the metal backing of the target stand.

“How’d it do?” Gobber called as I picked up the target, bringing it over to the group. I dropped it in front of the smith and Ember, and gestured to what little of the arrow was still visible. “You tell me,” I replied, smirking. Ember bent down and pulled at the arrow, before gasping as the entire shaft slipped out like it was in butter.

“Oh. My. God,” she whispered. I set a hand on her shoulder, smiling. “Congrats Ember, you’ve got a weapon truly fit for a guardian now,” I said.

“I’ll say,” Hiccup muttered, walking over from the forge door. “Figure out a way to make Mysteel flexible, and she could have indestructible arrows _and_ a bow.”

I shrugged. “We can always start by coating the bow in plating,” I suggested. “But, that will have to wait until another day unless you guys want to deal with that on your own. I’ve got to head off now.”

I turned to leave, before one more thought struck me. “By the way, anyone seen Spitfire recently?” I asked. “I had something to ask him, but haven’t been able to find him.” They all shook their heads in response.

“I saw him a few days ago; he said he was going out hunting,” Orha said, looking up from where he lay, “but he hasn’t shown up since. Or, I haven’t seen him at least.”

An odd feeling wormed its way into my gut at that, seeing as how the Changewing usually didn’t disappear for more than a few hours before showing up around the village, but waved it off for the moment. Perhaps he was finally becoming a little bolder.

“Well, let me know if any of you see him show up,” I requested. “In the meantime, I’ll probably see you guys tomorrow!” I turned and took off, leaving the group to continue on the arrows.

As I flew toward the portal though, I still couldn’t shake that gut feeling. As I’d find out soon enough, I probably had reason to be concerned at that moment, too.


	5. Troubling

_The world turns mad when balance breaks_

_The peace of normal no more_

_Be ready when the tide goes out_

_To deal with dangers of lore_

It had been a week.

An entire week, and no sign of Spitfire had shown up. That was worrying enough for everyone as rarely a day went by without the Changewing following me around the village (or Hiccup when I wasn’t around), but there was another factor compounding the issue: Spitfire was no longer the only dragon to turn up missing now.

Granted, all the permanent village dragons that had bonded with one of the Vikings were still around, and showed no signs of leaving, so Orha, Toothless, and the other teens’ dragons were still around. But what had set the alarm bells ringing had been the day in late May, after I had returned home from work and dropped off Holly at the house, when I walked through the portal to find Phil and all the other Terrors gone from the vicinity of the portal.

A chill ran down my spine, and I immediately bolted for the village. Hiccup wasn’t in his house, so I headed for the forge, and nearly ran Astrid over in the process.

“Hey! Watch it Hawken!” she snapped, standing back up and brushing her skirt off. “Where are you in such a hurry to?” “Sorry,” I apologized quickly, “but we have a problem. A big problem. Find Thorn and then follow me.”

Astrid raised an eyebrow and was about to reply with another question, but I’d already taken off once more. Luckily, Hiccup and Gobber were both within the forge. The former smiled when he saw me and held up what looked like a Mysteel breastplate. “Hey Hawken, we figured out how to make armor!” he exclaimed excitedly. “This should be even sturdier than the dragon scales!”

I nodded curtly. “That’s great Hiccup, but we have another matter to attend to at the moment,” I replied. Hiccup’s smile began deflating almost immediately. “What, exactly, do you mean?” “Phil and his friends are missing as well now,” I explained. “Spitfire’s not the only one. Something’s going on.”

“Now that ye mention it,” Gobber spoke up, walking over to the forge window, “I noticed the Nightmares that hang around the docks have nae been showin’ up either fer some time. I thought perhaps they’d found another means of helping the fishermen, but no word of them has come in.”

I nodded, frown deepening as I turned to glance behind me. Thorn had shown up finally and was landing, and Astrid jumped off shortly after. “Alright, so what’s the deal?” she asked irritably. “And you’d better have a good reason for bowling me over.”

“We need to search the island,” I said. “All of the riderless dragons are disappearing. If they’re on the island somewhere still for some reason, we probably don’t need to worry, but if not…I mean, it’s not mating season for another month or two, so that possibility is out of the question, and even if it were dragons still don’t vanish for more than a few hours then either.”

Astrid’s irritated glare melted to an expression of concern, and she pursed her lips. “I’ll gather the rest of the gang and head around the east side,” she suggested. I nodded and turned to Hiccup and Toothless. “We’ll take the west, meet at the other end of the island, and come down the middle together.” They nodded in agreement, and as Astrid took off around the village to round up the others, Hiccup and I began skirting in the direction of the western shore.

* * *

“So, uh, why are we doing this again? I mean it’s not like any of our dragons have turned up missing,” Snotlout complained, before yelping and ducking out of the way as Thorn threw a spike at him.

“So you’re saying that you don’t care at all about Spitfire?” Astrid growled back. Snotlout shrank back a bit under her glower.

“Plus,” Fishlegs added in, Meatlug nodding in agreement, “if the dragons are disappearing, it may mean something out there is posing a threat to them, and thereby ours as well. No offense Orha, but Snotlout you remember when we first started having problems with the ‘Shadow Lord,’ how dragons started disappearing from the meadow they were in?” “Yes, but this is so boring!” Snotlout groused.

“Oh, would you just shut up and focus already!” Ember snapped, before turning her own gaze worriedly to the island below them. “Fishlegs, shouldn’t there at least be a handful of dragons living in the cliffs?”

The group all turned to face the jagged eastern side of the island. Composed of thousands of crags and small caves, the cliff face was eerily silent, empty of activity save for the calling of gulls.

“Wow, it is really quiet here,” Tuffnut commented softly. He glanced at Ruff, and they both grinned. “Let’s blow it up!” They dove toward the caves, before the two teens nearly went flying off of Barfbelch when Orha clamped down onto the Zippleback’s tail.

“Are you insane?!” Ember yelled, hair turning red. “You should know that by now,” Ruffnut replied nonchalantly. Ember groaned in reply, before glaring at the two again. “We are on an important, time-sensitive mission here,” she snapped. “There is no room for messing around at the moment, especially when it involves blowing up dragon habitat!”

Orha gave an agreeing nod, before growling and jerking on Barfbelch’s tail, throwing the dragon and his riders back into line and then gliding back into his own position. Ember took another look down at the cliffs, before glancing over at Astrid. “We definitely need to tell Hiccup and Hawken about this.”

* * *

“Anything at all?” I called as I swooped up from among the sea stacks. <Nada,> was Toothless’ reply. Hiccup nodded in reluctant agreement with the Night Fury.

“The forests are empty, nothing at all in the mountain foothills, not even a sign of any Nadders near the falls,” he added in. “It’s as if everyone just dissolved into thin air. I don’t get any of this!”

I frowned. “Well, they had to go somewhere. And I would have noticed during my leisure flights of we had any dragon hunters in the area,” I muttered. “It’s really hard for them not to take a shot at a lone Night Fury.”

Hiccup nodded. “Yeah, tell me about it. Had that experience as well a while back.” He looked at me seriously. “So, what could have happened to them all? If it were a dragon like when we first encountered Orha, at least one would have noticed and alerted us.” I sighed and looked off to the horizon. “If only I knew, Hiccup. If only I knew,” I whispered.

We flew in silence for most of our trip, each of us checking various parts of the shoreline and the island’s inner edge as we went, before we finally reached the opposite end from the village. As I flew, I also made up my mind about another important subject: it was time to use one of the gems I had been given, as I had a really bad feeling that we were all going to become busy over the next few weeks. I needed to get everything on automated systems at home so that I didn’t have to be around constantly, and while my parents probably wouldn’t be overly pleased with part of what I was planning, it was going to be necessary.

Surprisingly, Astrid, Ember and the other teens were already waiting for us on the northern beach. “Wow, you guys work fast,” Hiccup commented.

“We also had more than twice the number of dragons as you guys did,” Astrid replied. “But we don’t have any good news, I’m afraid. The eastern cliffs and the forests are completely barren.”

I grimaced. “Then, that means unless they’re all in the mountains, the island has been wiped clean of wild dragons.”

Silence took over for a minute, before Fishlegs spoke up. “Well, there is always the chance they went to that one island way up north,” he suggested, “as we’ve seen lots of dragons come and go from that direction, but we would have to check that out on another day; there wouldn’t be time with the daylight we have left.”

Hiccup sighed and nodded. “Yeah, there’s that chance, but we also won’t have time for a couple of days, at least.” He looked around at the group, then gestured toward the mountains. “Let’s finish this search though, and report back to my dad. Toothless?” The Night Fury nodded and spread his wings, taking off and leading the rest of the group down the center of Berk.

* * *

There was nothing. Not a scale, not a burn mark to be found anywhere. We landed back in the village, weary from the tedious flight, and were greeted by an anxious chief.

“Anything?” Stoick queried worriedly. We all shook our heads in unison. “Not a thing showed up,” Hiccup said. “We’re going to check that big island up toward the northeast later, but that will have to wait a couple days at least.”

Stoick didn’t say anything for a couple moments, wringing his hands and looking around the village. Then he nodded slightly. “Very well then. Hiccup, you keep working on that armor you and Gobber had going; Ember, you too. Astrid, keep the other teens up to date on sparring practice; I have a feeling we may need it soon enough.” He then turned and headed briskly down the path, presumably to spread word and to halt the escalating argument breaking out between Mulch and Hoark nearby.

The teens began to disperse, their dragons following along, and I turned to take off as well (some chores still needed taking care of). But before I even spread my wings, however, another idea hit me.

“Hey, Hiccup?” I said, turning back to him. “Hmm?” he replied, one foot in the air as he was about to head to the smithy. “I won’t be here to help with the armor and such, at least for tomorrow, but if you get the chance,” I looked around to make sure the others were out of hearing range, then leaned in and whispered, “find out what happens if you mix the dragon scale armor with Mysteel.”

Immediately I saw the glimmer of curiosity and invention spark in Hiccup’s eyes, that imagination he was well known for, and he nodded, smiling. I glanced at Toothless. “And you make sure that he doesn’t overdo anything and hurt himself, alright?”

The Night Fury nodded and smirked slightly, and the pair sauntered off again toward the forge. I, meanwhile, turned and spread my wings, taking off toward the portal. My job the next day (besides the literal job at the nursery I worked at) was to prepare for a possibly costly summer, and that meant that I needed to figure out how to utilize one of the jewels in the bag I had hidden away. That, in turn, meant I needed to find a dealer willing to purchase them, and that I feared would take long enough in itself, time being something we all had very little of now.


	6. Preparations and Missed Marks

As soon as I got home from work, and before I had to leave to pick up my sister, I went online and began searching the internet for any local places that dealt in gems and minerals. Luckily for me, the search was not long; there was a dealer less than a half-hour’s distance from my house, by air that is. The next step then was to choose which of the gems in the bag I would take. There was a fair selection I was keeping for sentimental or symbolic purposes (I had started preparations to make a plaque with one stone to represent each tribe of Israel, as I had discovered I had in fact received at least one of each that I needed), but at the same time it was a large bag, with plenty of stones I could still use.

I didn’t want to start right up at the beginning and use the more expensive gemstones, so when I retrieved the bag I started out setting aside those that I knew were of great value: blue and red diamonds, tanzanite, alexandrite, and others (some of the smaller of those stones I also had plans for). I ended up selecting one that I thought would be relatively inexpensive: an amethyst, violet as Stormfly’s scales when she fibbed, that was about a quarter the size of my fist.

Okay, so inexpensive is still a relative term, as the thing weighed a good half ounce (and therefore several carats per ounce), but hopefully it would cover my leftover college costs along with the new setups I’d need for the greenhouses. I returned the rest of the gems to the bag and hid it away once more, before placing the amethyst in a sealed pocket.

Picking up Holly didn’t take long, and as soon as I dropped her off at the house I told her to let our parents know I’d be back in a couple hours, and that I just had a few important errands I needed to run. Then, I took off to the south, following the map I had printed and heading for Denver.

For the most part, flying is great, but there is a cost: you cannot go too fast for too long, or else you wear out very quickly, so I was stuck gliding at only a moderate rate the whole way. Traveling by air is still a magnitude faster than the cars that I watched passing below me, but after having spent time before moving at multiples of the speed of sound, a couple hundred miles an hour when you’re on a mission instead of leisure even starts to feel slow.

Eventually I managed to find the dealer, a rather uninteresting building near the edge of the city. As I glided down I gave out a roar to announce my approach for landing, and after I was done laughing at the reactions of the pedestrians on the sidewalk, I touched down, morphed back, and walked in.

Glass cases full of various minerals and gems (each and every one protected by infrared) decorated the walls and counters, and just past the center of the room a middle-aged, somewhat nerdy looking man sat at a desk behind another decorated counter, lined with filing paper, calculators, a computer (the usual business gear) and such things as magnifying glasses, diamond cutting tools, and other various instruments I won’t even attempt to guess at.

“Can I help you?” he asked, barely glancing up from his work on what appeared to be a small aquamarine stone. I fished the amethyst from my pocket and held it up between my fingers. “Well, that depends. I came to see if I could trade this in,” I said lightly. The man (Alex going by the name tag on his chest) looked up completely now, and gaped for a second at the stone in my hand. Then he blinked and stood up slowly from his seat.

“W-well, we’ll, uh, we’ll need to get down a record for your information,” he stumbled, “and examine the stone to determine its worth. Are-are you sure that is real?” “Completely,” I assured, trying to keep myself from making a sarcastic comment. He nodded, and walked over to a file cabinet in the back of the room, pulling out a sheet of paper which he handed to me. “If you could fill this out then, I will examine the stone afterward.”

After a couple minutes, I’d filled out the information sheet as best as I could, and then handed both the paper and the amethyst to Alex. He took it and carefully placed it on an inset to hold the stone in place, before picking up a magnifying glass and carefully examining the surface.

After about three minutes, Alex looked back up to me. “First off, I’ll be honest and say this is the largest amethyst I have ever seen in my life. Secondly, I don’t know where you obtained this from, but I can’t find a single flaw! There are no chips, no impurities, and it’s been cut expertly already.” He glanced back down at the stone, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “I probably can’t get an answer for this, but where on earth did you come across it? My first guess would be a very high-end shop.”

I shrugged. “It was a gift from a friend some time ago. That’s all I’m really at liberty to say at the moment.” Alex nodded understandingly. “Some friend then.”

The examiner took the amethyst and placed it on a scale, reading the measurement. Then his eyes widened again. “Wow,” he muttered, glancing up at me. “This is a ten gram amethyst; that’s working out to about 50 carats.” He carefully picked up the stone and handed it back to me, before standing up and turning to the back of the building. “I need to consult with the supervisor to finalize if we are going to purchase it. I will be right back.” He disappeared through the door at the back.

A couple of minutes later Alex returned, followed by another man in a groomed black suit. “I take it you’re the new client?” He asked. I nodded, and he continued. “Welcome then. Name’s Dillon, and I think we’ll take you up on purchasing the amethyst you have. May I see it before we finalize the transaction?”

I held up the gem, and Dillon carefully took it, looking the gem over. Then he glanced at Alex. “You said 50 carats?” he asked. The examiner nodded. Dillon looked back at me and nodded. “At current value, and considering both this flawless color and the state of your stone, we can offer to purchase it for approximately $4200. Will you accept that offer?”

I could have sworn I heard that wrong. “Can you repeat that?” “$4200,” Dillon affirmed. I nodded, mind going blank for a moment as I processed this. I had expected the amethyst to be worth maybe around $1500, max, but over $4000?

“Well, I…uh, that’s certainly a better offer than I was expecting, actually,” I admitted. “I guess the facts I checked were a little outdated. I will most certainly accept your offer.” Dillon nodded, and a smile broke across his face as he handed the amethyst to Alex once more, and he headed into the back once more.

A couple of minutes later, he returned with a proper receipt and a certified check from the business. After checking over what he’d printed out on the note, he handed it to me with the receipt and thanked me for my business. Expressing gratitude in return, I turned and stepped out the front door, walking down the sidewalk a ways.

For a couple of minutes I didn’t go anywhere, still trying to process this. $4200 for one of the cheapest (I had thought) gems in that bag? I was flabbergasted. After all, there were such stones as alexandrite, jadeite and diamonds in that sack that I had estimated were well over ten carats, and they were many, many times more valuable. Just what had Odin given to us?

* * *

When I returned to my own home town, my first action was to deposit the money I had made, before traveling around the city to find the items I had marked down as needed for the new setups I was building. Even after all the supplies were purchased, I had spent barely over $200, and still had more than enough to cover the remaining costs for my entire next year of college.

The first obstacle was found when I walked into my home carrying all the equipment, right in front of my mom and dad. My mother’s first expression was downright suspicion.

“Do I even want to ask what that is?” she asked. “A greenhouse and supplies,” I responded shortly as I began setting things down.

“Oh no, you’re not putting another one in here,” she countered. “That one you have already takes up way to much room, and where would you even put a second? We’ve already discussed this!” “Yes, and I have long explained why I have been needing one downstairs for some of them,” I replied, “and I need to set up these systems as well because I am probably going to be incredibly busy soon.”

“Then find somewhere else to set all this up,” my father flatly retorted. “You’re more than welcome to fill up space with plants in your own house.”

“And I can’t do that, recall?” I snapped. “First off, everything is already here, so it’s not much effort or issue to expand a little. Second, I don’t have the money yet for an entirely new house of my own yet. Thirdly and perhaps most important at the moment: need I remind you about the portal? I don’t know if it would stay at this spot if I left or travel with me or something, but as of right now I am not taking that chance at the moment.”

The argument continued for more than half an hour, before I managed to pull together enough support to not only continue what I was doing, but refute any idea that I would be leaving the portal behind any time soon. Even my parents agreed I was needed in Berk.

The next five hours (or, in other words, the entire rest of the evening) I spent dealing with setting up everything I needed. Immediately afterward, I went straight up to my room, and was asleep before I even hit my pillow.

* * *

Another day of work, and another hassle of dealing with the ever-present pain in the butt that is Holly, and then I found myself back on Berk. It didn’t take long to find Hiccup again, in the forge as usual, and Toothless was dozing lightly nearby.

“Ready to go?” I asked as I landed, folding away my wings and peeking inside. Hiccup looked up, and shrugged. “Uh, not quite I’m afraid. I actually wanted to show you something first, real quick.” He gestured for me to follow him into the back room, and I ducked inside.

Carefully, Hiccup bent down and opened a drawer, pulling out something wrapped in cloth. “I did this last night, after Gobber had left already,” he explained, unwrapping the object. “Mostly, I waited because if it didn’t work I didn’t want him laughing at me again. Turns out, Mysteel has only a slightly lower melting point than some dragon scales, most notably Toothless’, and they don’t do well being heated at the same time. But, if melted separately and then mixed together…” he handed the object to me.

It was glossy black, similar to the armor we had made of pure Night Fury scales, but there was an underlying metallic glint to it as well. What was more, it was flexible, like well-worked leather. I looked up at Hiccup, a grin spreading across my face.

“How strong is it?” I asked. “Eh, pure Mysteel can usually still pierce it, if there’s enough force behind the blow, but nothing else I’ve tried will even scratch the stuff, unlike our original dragon armor. You recall the steel arrow incident I’m sure.” I nodded, remembering well; we had honed pure steel to as sharp as we could, and Hiccup had been wearing the armor to protect from heat in the forge as he tried to work the head on to the shaft. The shaft had snapped and sprung up at him, the arrowhead going with and stabbing through a loose section of the armor on his side. Nothing serious was hit, but it had scared the both of us.

Hiccup continued his explanation of the new material. “I also discovered that it retains that other odd feature of the metal; if you’re wearing it and something hits you, you can’t feel it at all.” “And how did you discover this?” “Toothless smacked me with his tail when I asked him to.” “After I thought he’d lost his mind for working that late, and asking me such a question,” Toothless remarked, having awakened completely and followed us in.

I chuckled, before examining the material I was holding again. After a moment I held it out to Hiccup, who smirked and took it back, placing the sheet back into the cloth and covering it, setting the whole thing into the drawer again. “I have a feeling we just revolutionized our battle gear,” he murmured, getting that inventive look on his face again.

We headed out of the forge after that, meeting up with the other teens and their dragons in the main plaza. “Everyone packed and ready?” I queried. “No, we were standing here uselessly waiting for you before we got everything together, duh,” Astrid snarked. “You two take forever to get anywhere, you know that?”

“Is it our fault we’re both the curious type?” Hiccup asked, before adding, “Never mind, don’t answer that.” The response brought chuckles to Ember and Orha, before everyone mounted up and we took off. This time I flew amongst the others in the same form I had first found myself in after arriving on Berk, the gray-green, elongate Western-style drake of no particular species. It was a flexible form, as I didn’t particularly know what to expect with where we were headed.

Our trip took us northward, a couple of hours over flat, featureless ocean, the only visible spits of land being tiny, uninhabitable islands barely supporting handfuls of stunted trees. A single dragon could maybe survive on a couple of the biggest ones, with enough cover for a sleeping spot, but we still spied nothing more than birds.

“Man, did you guys just choose the lamest path to take because you thought it would be fun, or is there actually supposed to be something out here?”

I glanced back toward Snotlout, eyes narrowing, and gestured my head ever so slightly to Fireworm. She nodded in agreement, before promptly combusting.

“AAAHHH!! Cut it out!!” Snotlout yelled, raising himself up off his seat and attempting to quell the flames.

“Gee, if you would stop complaining every chance you get, maybe she wouldn’t roast your rear, literally,” Astrid snapped. “But there’s nothing out here!” Snotlout protested. Seconds later the smell of burning leather immediately returned. “AAHHH!! Alright, alright!”

Finally though, a much larger island began to grow visible on the horizon. We were a ways away still, but I could see rolling hills and forests covering it to one end, as well as a large bay on the other side. There was something extending up out of the bay, and curling around the shore to the far side of the island, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“Happy now, Lout?” Ember asked nonchalantly, glancing back warningly at the loudmouth. “Only if we actually find something for once,” he replied.

“Well, it’s the nearest large island, and the only one for miles, so there’s got to be something there,” Hiccup replied. “Only problem is, we don’t know what yet. Could be a northern village, or what we’re actually looking for.”

“Uh, I think we’re about to find out,” Fishlegs said, pointing ahead of us as his face paled. I followed his finger, and my eyes widened. “Everyone, get ready to defend yourselves!” I yelled, flaring my wings and slowing as the others did the same.

A veritable cloud of dragons was heading our way, moving directly from the island ahead and at the rate they were traveling, they weren’t in a happy, welcoming mood either. I glanced up, noting the condition of the weather.

“To the clouds!” I yelled, arcing upward and pumping my wings, the other dragons following me. The wet mist surrounded us, cutting off our vision, and we waited, just close enough to see each other. The screeches and roars of the other dragons grew louder, traveling upward as they tracked us, and suddenly we were surrounded by them, forcing everyone to split up in order to stay out of sight.

A loud roar sounded somewhere above me. <Intruders! Show yourselves and state your business, or you risk great harm to yourselves!> I grimaced, and shot upward. The dragon must have seen me coming and dove to the side, but not quickly enough that I wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of a double pair of wings, and a very large head.

<Show ourselves to dragons who attack us without reason?> I heard Toothless snap back. <We are here to try and locate missing friends of ours, nothing more!>

I sidled up next to the Night Fury, who turned ready to attack before he noticed it was me, and we both found ourselves suddenly facing the larger dragon, as the rest of the teens distracted the mob surrounding us. His expression was not convinced.

<You come here ridden by Vikings bearing weapons, to find friends?> he hissed, the crests of his forehead spreading as he hovered, looming above us. The clouds hid any distinguishing features, but I could just barely catch the sight of something eerily familiar: a figure, small but noticeable, standing behind his head. <We have had far too many attacks as of late, by Vikings and otherwise,> he growled. <You are not welcome here.>

<Then if we cannot approach you can at least tell us if our friends have passed this way,> I snapped, garnering his focus, <and we will be gone. We are searching for a Changewing by the name of Spitfire, and a flock of Terrible Terrors led by a white one named Phil.>

The dragon narrowed his eyes. <Dragons alone are free to come and go from here as they please. No such creatures have passed this way, and I will not divulge further information for our safety and theirs.>

His mouth opened and he fired a warning shot, a vortex of flames that drove between Toothless and I. Though not meant to hurt it was enough for me to lose my patience. <FINE!!> I roared, flaring my wings wide as they would go in that form. Electric rivulets erupted across my skin and built up along the edges of my wings as I slammed them forward, a crackling bolt shrieking in the direction of the grump. He screeched in surprise and dove out of the way, the bolt illuminating him more clearly as he disappeared into the clouds, and his rider, who continued to look back at us as if uncertain of their decision.

I turned and yelled out to the other teens, “Fall back! We won’t find anything here!” I dove through the clouds, ensuring the others turned from the chaotic swarm and moved south again, Hiccup and I bringing up the rear of the formation. The attacking dragons moved off as they saw us retreat, leaving us be as we headed back in the direction of Berk.

As Snotlout began complaining (unsurprisingly) about how “that was a complete waste of our time,” however, I glanced back to watch for any followers or surprise attacks. The dragon was still there, just under the clouds and watching us with an expression of uncertainty. Out of the vaporous barrier above his features were clear; I knew that species, and that unnerved me all the more. The only place I had seen it before was from the trailers for the second movie that was fast approaching release, and there, too, it had a rider. If this was the same situation, everything would change drastically very, very shortly.

“Hey Hawken?” Hiccup called, jerking me out of my distracted thoughts. “What kind of dragon was that? I’ve never seen one before, do you know?” “A Stormcutter,” I replied shortly. “And I have a feeling we may become very familiar with that one too.” “Stormcutter…that was the other species Odin mentioned when he visited, the ones hunted by Jezebel,” Hiccup mused. “Why do you think he’ll become familiar?”

I sighed. “I will give you about three weeks, and by then, you’ll probably know exactly why.”

* * *

The Stormcutter looked on as the group disappeared again, before turning back to his island, the flock of dragons following. At the last moment their decision was regretted by him as well, much like it had been the rider on his back, who continued to watch the now empty horizon.

Something had been different with those people, something very different. And something was extremely familiar about that young man riding the Night Fury. The rider felt unnerved as well by that other dragon, the species she’d never seen before. It was similar to the Alagaesians of Asia, without the feathers, and to the drakes of Narnia to the southwest. The rider and the Stormcutter also knew well the details of Skrills and other electrical species of dragon, but the tactic that one had used was entirely new, and dangerous.

Concerning the group’s approach, none had come off initially as threatening. The Stormcutter’s rider couldn’t speak or truly understand Dragonese, but she’d been around dragons long enough to understand what they were communicating on a basic level. The dragons had been ridden willingly, and that group had been looking for someone. Granted, there had been no new dragons showing up at the nest for weeks, and they would have been disappointed anyway had they reached the island, but the rider felt very at odds now with the decision she and her dragon had made. She leaned down to her mount, patting him on the back of the neck.

“I think we made the wrong choice, Cloudjumper,” she said quietly. “They meant us no harm, weapons or none.” The Stormcutter grunted softly in reply, voicing agreement, but unfortunately the response did nothing to soothe his rider, who continued to brood over the circumstances all the way back to the nest.

The pair would make no serious decisions until they were certain all other options had been exhausted, but as the dragons once living in the nest continued to disappear one by one, those options were fading fast. Soon enough she would have to return to the Barbaric Archipelago, to the islands she had once come from, but right then, she was certainly not ready to confront the past. Too many dangerous memories…and even if things had changed, there were far too many ways she could cause everything to go wrong.


	7. Raid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, time for some action in this installment...

_There’s a moment in the silent night_

_When silence is what you fear_

_Hidden in the shadowed air_

_The danger drawing near._

_Prepare your sword_

_Prepare your bow_

_The fight looms just ahead_

_Battle scars they matter not_

_When returning past you dread_

Early June, one of my favorite times of year, normally. Holly was finally out of school so there was one less chore to take care off, I had everything set up at home, and work had been steady. Hiccup had continued feverishly experimenting on the Mysteel/dragon scale mixture, but thus far he’d only been able to compose a working suit for himself, thanks to the difficulties of the material. Due to the properties of both the metal and the scales, the substance cooled rapidly, and while pliable once it was solidified it could only bend, not be molded further.

We had kept the new discovery a secret up to that point, letting Gobber and Ember continue working on the standard Mysteel armor and weapons as well (shields, swords and helmets/breast plates etc. of the pure metal were still better for their purposes, after all). And, though working together we’d all managed to nearly restock the entire armory, thanks to the multitude of mechanical monstrosities we’d taken down in the battle months before we still had half the scrap shed filled with the lustrous metal. Oh well, plenty to mess with later.

At the present moment, though, we were in the cove –Hiccup, Toothless and I- and we were testing out Hiccup’s new armor. Not on him of course, mind you, in case something went wrong (and we did not want a repeat of the arrowhead incident), but we had produced a spare sheet of material sourced from Night Fury scales and had strung it up between a pair of boulders.

Hiccup strung an arrow on the bow we had brought along, raised it up, taking aim and firing. The arrow flew straight on target, hit the sheet….and dropped to the ground. The sheet itself barely moved from the impact.

I walked over and picked up the arrow, examining it. Or, at least what was left of it. The wooden shaft was shattered and splayed out in the middle, and the normally perfectly straight steel head was warped and caved in on itself.

“Anything?” Hiccup called out, stretching his neck as he tried to see. I shook my head as I turned to examine the sheet. “Not even a scratch, and the whole thing barely moved,” I replied. “Oh, and you owe Gobber a new arrow, shaft included.”

Hiccup snorted in response. “Eh, with the Mysteel arrows we’re making, we won’t need regular iron ones anymore. Speaking of which,” he drawled, pulling out a familiar looking arrow with a shiny glint, “we know Mysteel arrows can cut the stuff, but it takes a lot of force. I’m kind of curious as to how much is actually required.”

As he strung the arrow, I sighed and shook my head pityingly. “You know Ember will literally roast you alive when she finds out you took one of her new arrows, right?” Hiccup waved it off, unconcerned. “Come on, it’s not like we’re keeping it,” he deadpanned. “You did at least grab one of the arrows without the venom load, right?” I shot right back. “Yes, yes, I’m not stupid.” “No, just a klutz.”

Hiccup groaned in annoyance and aimed the arrow, before releasing another shot at the sheet. This one also hit the target dead center, but this time the head did in fact manage to pierce the material, embedding about halfway through. I nodded, whistling. “Well, this stuff is pretty sturdy isn’t it?” Hiccup nodded in agreement.

By comparison, Mysteel to the new material was like regular steel to a hard oak trunk, but a regular arrow to the new substance still acted like a corroded aluminum blade against a vibranium boulder; there was no matching this level of sturdy.

“Toothless also mentioned you came up with a name for this stuff,” I commented. “Care to share your thoughts?” Hiccup smirked. “Well, it’s not particularly creative, but it’s catchy. Myscale, just combining Mysteel and dragon scales together.”

I pondered it for a moment, before nodding. “Actually, it is rather catchy. Anyway, I have one more test to put it through before we finish this round.” I glanced around searching for Toothless, wherever he’d wandered to. My eyes landed on the Night Fury, dozing off by the pond.

“Hey Toothless, might want to cover your ears for this!” I called out. Toothless opened one eye, groaned dramatically, and clamped his paws down over his ears. Hiccup did the same, and I got rid of my ears completely before I went over and picked up the shotgun I’d borrowed from my father. Carefully making sure the bullet was loaded properly, I lined up the barrel toward my target, flipped off the safety, and fired.

Had I been fully human the recoil would have been painful, but with a dragon’s strength I could actually hold on to the gun without being knocked onto my backside. But when I took my shot, the reaction from the sheet of Myscale made me drop the gun anyway.

There was no reaction. The wind from the bullet made the ropes sway slightly, but no hole appeared in the sheet, no ripples went out from the impact site, nothing.

I walked up to the sheet again, and from on the ground underneath I picked up the splayed, copper-tipped slug that would have ripped through any living thing. I turned to Hiccup, the expression on my face telling everything.

“That gun could crack granite,” I elaborated. “It didn’t do zilch.”

Silence followed, before Hiccup replied, “We definitely need to keep this contained on the island.”

* * *

It was one o’ clock in the morning. Hiccup was sound asleep in his bed, Toothless curled up on his rock slab nearby dozing lightly as the normally nocturnal dragon usually did. Throughout the entire village the only sounds were the occasional bleating of a sheep, or a resident dragon or Viking shaking the walls of their houses with their snoring.

Suddenly, Toothless’ ears perked up, swiveling toward the open window of Hiccup’s room. His head followed soon after as a new sound, well off in the distance, rattled him from his sleep. Quietly, he stood up and padded over quickly to the window, peering out into the dark. The moon was blocked by clouds on this night, the only light coming from the flickering fires of the watch tower, but the Night Fury’s keen nocturnal eyes almost immediately picked up the faint outline of shapes coming up from the southeast: dragons, hundreds of them, each and every one moving with dangerous intent.

Toothless’ eyes widened in alarm and he spun around, leaping over to Hiccup’s bed and nudging the sleeping form within the covers, hard. <Come on Hiccup, wake up! We’ve got a problem!> he hissed, Hiccup groaned. “Toothless, it’s still dark out, go to bed,” he muttered groggily.

<Did you not hear me?!> Toothless growled, louder this time. <We have a serious problem heading our way!>

Finally Hiccup turned and sleepily blinked up at the dragon. “What…what kind of problem?” he asked slowly. <There’s a very large flock of dragons heading toward the village,> Toothless explained, gesturing to the window, <and I don’t think that they’re just stopping by to visit either.>

As if perfectly timed, a feral roar echoed across the sea and over the village, followed the frightened bleating of the sheep nearest to the docks. Hiccup jolted up, the last vestiges of deep sleep rolling off him as he ran to the window, peering out.

Off near the edge of the village, he soon spotted the dark forms beginning to swoop low over the houses, gliding down as if surveying the terrain before rising up into the dark sky again. Then, off by one of the sheep pens, a column of flames erupted.

“Raid,” Hiccup whispered, whirling around toward his new armor, donning it as quickly as he could and grabbing Framherja. “Toothless, we need to move,” he said. <No duh.> “Not the time!” Hiccup snapped, yanking open his door and rushing downstairs. “Dad!” he yelled, “get up! There’s a raid!”

A groan sounded from Stoick’s room followed by a THUMP! as what was presumably the chief rolled out of his bed and on to the floor, hard.

“Ahh!! What? Hiccup, what’re ye doing up at this time o’ night?” came the irritated voice from the other side of the doorway. It swung open shortly after, revealing a less-than-pleased Stoick clad in only a night tunic and short pants.

“There’s a raid!” Hiccup iterated again. “We’ve got dragons coming in from the southeast, and they’re going after the sheep!”

Silence for a moment, then Stoick turned back into his room. A minute later he reappeared, fully armed and with an axe at the ready. “Send someone te get Hawken,” Stoick ordered as he pushed past and exited the house. “The sooner we get this under control and figured out, the better. And you and Toothless, get into the air already!!”

Hiccup complied, him and Toothless racing out after Stoick and rising into the air together with practiced ease, Hiccup swinging onto the saddle as Toothless took off. They soared toward Fishlegs’ house first, waking up the teen to go and alert their ally, before the duo raced to Astrid’s house.

“Astrid! Wake the others; we’re going to be in the middle of a major fight soon!” Hiccup yelled through the warrioress’ window. Astrid appeared shortly after, immediately noting not only that Hiccup and Toothless were in full armor but that Thorn was squawking loudly below. “What’s going on?” she asked urgently. “Raid,” Hiccup replied.

Astrid’s eyes widened, and she nodded, jumping straight out her window with axe in hand and vaulting up onto Thorn’s saddle.

The horn at the southern watchtower sounded, and suddenly the village was ablaze. Screaming roars split the night as feral dragons dove down into and through the village, lighting houses on fire and setting their sights on the livestock pens. The village had been caught unprepared, as such a thing hadn’t happened in nearly four years, and as such even the bonded dragons guarding the pens became temporarily overwhelmed by the sudden attack.

Hiccup glanced down at Toothless, a silent question passing between the two of them. Toothless nodded, and Hiccup raised Framherja, aiming for the Nightmare racing toward the nearest henhouse.

A bolt of crackling electricity, a scream of pain and anger, and it had begun.

Fishlegs, meanwhile, raced over the tops of the forest trees on Meatlug, his mind mirroring their actions as he tried to puzzle out why dragons were beginning their attacks again. This was not good, especially as the villagers who still held grudges against the reptiles would use this as fuel for their fire, but none of the dragons in the village, the ones truly attached to a rider or companion, were taking part in this. No, this was all dragons where were still “wild” or at least not tied to someone.

Fishlegs had already figured this was connected to the previous disappearances of said dragons recently, but the only conclusion he could come up with…well, it was bad, to say the least.

Moments later the burly Viking and his dragon reached the portal, and after telling Meatlug to stay put Fishlegs ran through and up to the house on the other side. Oh, how he really hoped Hawken wasn’t a heavy sleeper…

* * *

I woke up to the dual alarms of someone banging against the back door and the dogs going nuts as they raced out to confront the intruder. A moment later the whining of Panda replaced the barking, meaning it was someone they recognized, and I groaned.

“Come on, at this time of night?” I grumbled, sitting up and, after noticing it was not late anymore but very early morning, slid out of bed and pulled on my robe.

“What on earth is going on?” came the irritated yell of my father from the next room over. “I’m going to find out, don’t worry about it,” I groused right back, shuffling out my door and out to the kitchen, shooing the dogs away and opening the curtains.

I was more than surprised to see who it was. “Fishlegs? What on earth are you doing here at this time of night?” I queried, yanking the door open. Fishlegs, for his part, seemed rather out of breath. “There’s…there’s a…a…” he stammered, breathless.

I held up my hands. :Okay, alright, hold on a minute. Calm down Fishlegs, take a breath, and start again.”

“Hawken, there’s a raid,” he blurted after a moment of heavy breathing. “Dragons came in, the wild dragons, and they’re stealing livestock, and they’re lighting the whole village on fire! We need your help or it’s going to end up being four years ago all over again!”

I nodded and held up a finger. “Stay right there,” I ordered, “and I’ll be right back.” Dashing to my room, I got dressed and grabbed a couple of swords, putting them away in a new storage location I had yet to disclose to the rest of the team, and then met Fishlegs out on the porch again. We raced through the portal, Fishlegs mounting on Meatlug as I morphed Night Fury, and we both took off.

“Any more details I need to know?” I yelled over the wind. “None of the dragons are the bonded ones in the village,” Fishlegs called back. “And the attack came from the southeast, in the direction of Dragon Island.” “Dragon Island?” “Yeah. And that gives me a really, really bad feeling.”

I couldn’t argue with him there either. When we reached Berk, the village was ablaze. It appeared just like the first scene of the movie all over again, except this time, there were dragons fighting from both sides. I dove immediately into the fray and fired at a Nadder that had streaked by, knocking it out cold and watching the dragon as it plowed into the sheep pen it had been aiming for. Spinning around, I spotted Ember and Orha up in the air, surrounded by a mob of Nightmares. A burst of electricity later, and the flame-colored dragons were fleeing the scene as Orha swung around so he and his rider could face me.

“About time you got here!” Ember yelled out as I flew up alongside them, the young woman stringing another arrow as she took aim below her. “You’re not killing them are you?” I asked worriedly. Ember only shook her head, holding up the arrow so that I could see it. The shaft supported a hard, blunt tip, not a cutting blade.

“These are stun arrows,” she explained quickly. “Hit them right in the forehead, or back of the neck, they’re down for at least ten minutes or so, sometimes longer. It’s a secret I’ve held for a long time, but I think I can trust telling you.”

I nodded. “Got it. I have to find Hiccup, keep driving the dragons off of the pens. We keep them at bay long enough and eventually they should up and leave.” “Got it!”

I backflipped and spun around, taking off across the village, Ember’s info running through my head as I analyzed how to use it. For those reading, for safety purposes I’ve changed the actual target spots slightly, just in case the wrong individual gets ahold of this, but the concept was the same.

By the dock storehouses, I spotted a sudden flurry of exploding lightning bolts, and a flash of indigo plasma that rocked the air with the resulting explosion. Smirking, I leaned down and headed that way. Sure enough, I found Hiccup on the roof of one of the storehouses, aiming at the Nadders and Zipplebacks that had closed in. Toothless was circling a nearby storehouse, doing the same. Neither saw the Timberjack shadow coming in low over the sea, however.

I shot between the pair and flared in front of the wide-winged creature. Normally any dragon seeing a Night Fury glowing with streams of electricity flaring up in front of it would recognize a viable threat, and turn the other direction. This dragon, however, kept coming straight toward me, without any sign of slowing down.

That’s when I saw it: with my nocturnal eyes everything was bright as day, and I could see every detail on the Timberjack’s face. What I did not see was the telltale flicker in the eyes that any intelligent being has: that spark of self-awareness, the look that tells you it was a thinking, feeling individual.

I didn’t see that. The Timberjack wasn’t acting out of a self-aware state, not its own decision. It was enough to make me drop my guard, and the dragon slammed into me, throwing both of us to the ground below. The air fled from my lungs, and the sudden pain that flared through my back and wings finally woke me up. I healed the sprain the landing had caused and pushed myself upward, spinning my tail and wrapping it around the Timberjack’s neck, throwing it to the side and pulling myself on top, pinning it hard. Though I was the smaller dragon, Night Furies are incredibly strong, and the legless dragon couldn’t move to throw me off. I peered once more at those disturbing eyes, confirming what I had observed, before landing a blow that knocked it out.

<About time you showed up!> Toothless yelled down, shooting a nearby Nightmare out of the air.

<I was asleep, what do you expect?> I threw back, leaping onto the roof where Hiccup was. <And this hasn’t happened in, what, four years? Give me a break!>

“Would you two quit bickering and focus?!” Hiccup yelled, firing Framherja again and warding off another Nadder that as coming in toward him. “Hawken, I haven’t heard a single word from any of them either. These dragons are not attacking just because they want to.”

I leapt up and snagged the tail of a passing Zippleback, stunning it with a shock and dragging it to the ground. “I know!” I yelled back. “They’re not aware of what they’re doing at all either!” “You mean something else is forcing them to attack?” “How many dragons have you run into that raid a village for no reason? Or do so while they’re not conscious of the rest of the world?”

Silence. “Good point,” Hiccup replied moments later, ducking as another Nadder swiped at him.

Seconds later, something splattered across my tail, and immediately a sharp burning sensation raced across my skin. I hissed in pain and hardened my scales in response, stopping the burn and spinning around to see what had attacked me.

A faint shadow slid across the rocks nearby, revealing itself for only a split second as it fired another stream of burning acid, this time at Toothless. I flared my tailfins, intercepting the spray, and fired back as I threw the acid to the ground instead. The shot missed, exploding against the rocks, but the light of the fire revealed the dragon as it leapt to a new location.

“Changewing!” I yelled, garnering the attention of my companions. Hiccup ran to the edge of the storehouse, aiming at the shadow as it scuttled around to line up for its own attack. Another spray of acid, and Hiccup fired, the bolt exploding and knocking the dragon senseless for a moment.

That’s when we all noticed: a regular sized Changewing would have been knocked out or suffered a major wound by the direct blow of Framherja. This one instead was nearly twice the size of normal, and perfectly clear in the light of the fading bolt were the old, jagged scars of iron chains that once wrapped its legs.

Hiccup shot me a look. “It’s Spitfire,” he stated plainly, and with great concern. I nodded, and jumped down in front of the dragon. He was regaining his senses, and when he glanced toward me, Spitfire faded from view once more and took off.

There was no way I was losing him that easily, not after just finding Spitfire again. Switching to infrared vision, I yelled up to Hiccup, “Keep them at bay as long as you can!” before I took off as well, following the Changewing who was now visible plain as day to me.

Problem was, with all the other warm-bodied dragons flying or running by and mixing in with hot, sweaty Vikings and roaring fires, it was almost too easy to lose sight of the bright, glowing object that was now Spitfire to me, especially when he ducked between a pair of houses and under a connecting bridge, forcing me to take a different route and losing my chance to catch up to him.

In the midst of the chase Astrid swept up next to me on Thorn. “What are you doing?” she yelled. “We just lost a henhouse over by Sven’s; we need your help, not you running around the”- “It’s Spitfire!” I snapped, cutting her off as I tried to keep my focus on the speeding red blob. “If we lose him we lose a chance to get answers to all of this!”

Astrid imitated a fish for a moment as she tried to form a response, before nodding and turning Thorn away. “You’re right, agreed!” she called. “I’m going back to help with the hens, call if something urgent comes up!” “You mean more urgent than a dragon raid?” “Shut up!”

I chuckled and sped forward again. At one point I nearly managed to catch Spitfire’s tail, before I ran almost straight into Fireworm, and lost him again.

“Watch it!” Snotlout yelled as Fireworm voiced a similar opinion. “I’m trying to help here!” “So am I!” I snapped, bolting off again before either of them could start an argument.

* * *

“Get the lower defense set up! We lose any of the yaks we’ll have to double up fish stocks!” Stoick spun his hammer and swung it hard, nailing a Gronckle that had come in to take the smoked meats stored in the warehouse behind him before yelling upward. “Ember! Head off the Zipplebacks to the east; those sheep pens stay untouched!” Confirmation echoed from the woman above him as she and Orha soared off, the Shadowracer’s near-white fire lighting up the night as he dragged down the closest opponent with a blast.

Stoick turned and charged down the path into the plaza, running up a stack of beams and leaping into the air, snagging a Nightmare by the horns and bringing it to the ground. “Not in my village you don’t!” he exclaimed, turning the dragon’s head and forcing it to the ground, before utilizing the pressure point Hiccup had taught him. The dragon collapsed unawares, to be out for several minutes more, while Stoick turned his attention toward the forge. “Gobber! You see Hiccup or Hawken?” “Nae for a couple o’ minutes,” the reply came, the smith hobbling out of the forge with a mace attached to his arm. “Astrid flew by an’ said Hawken had spotted Spitfire in the fray, and not on our side. I think Hiccup an’ Toothless are by the docks, the warehouses there!”

Stoick grunted affirmation. If Spitfire had been seen then this battle would be all the more hazardous, and it didn’t bode well that there was something out there making dragons he knew strike them. “Pass the message to the others,” he ordered. “These dragons were friends, minimal harm should be done. If they’re under some outside influence perhaps we can break them out, but”-

He was cut off as a collective deadening of noise went up throughout the village, and the raiders suddenly dispersed as one unit, vanishing into the night sky.

* * *

I had lost Spitfire in the fray to the east of the forge, and not moments later, it was all over. No audible signal was given, but the scene suddenly quieted as all the dragons who’d been involved in the raid suddenly took to the air, those who had been knocked out or wounded limping their way after the main flock as they awoke again, and they vanished along with what few supplies they had managed to steal. Behind them, they left us to figure out what had just occurred, and why, and clean up the mess that had been made.

I glided back down into the village commons, meeting up with the other teens as they gathered from the fight as well as the other villagers and their dragons. I glanced at Hiccup, who had more than a handful of questions written on his face, but one in particular stood out. I shook my head, and he visibly deflated. We had lost Spitfire again, and along with it a possibly major clue.

“What’s just happened?!” someone yelled as the rest of the village came together. “Years without incident and suddenly they’re all burning down houses again!” As if to emphasize the point, a nearby house creaked and suddenly caved in, sending a shower of sparks into the sky as the still-crackling beams gave way. Immediately every eye turned to the team.

“What?!” Hiccup protested. “None of our dragons were involved in this! It’s not like it’s our fault; we were helping keep them at bay, and so were our dragons!”

“Then why did they attack us?” Mildew groused, appearing at the edge of the crowd as he marched toward us. “Shut it Mildew,” Hoark quipped nearby. “I saw the village dragons fightin’ off the wild ones same as any o’ the Vikings here.” Mildew only scoffed. “Sure, this time around it wasn’t your dragons, but for all we know it will only be a matter of time before they turn too, and Berk will have a Night Fury, a Shadowracer, and maybe even Hawken to deal with then! We would all be ruined in seconds!”

He would have continued on his ranting if he hadn’t suddenly found the blades at the end of my tail pressing up against his chin. “I dare you to say anything of that sort again,” I hissed. “If we were going to have issues with the bonded dragons, I’m certain that something would have already occurred with them. And if you intend to keep your ability to speak at all you would find it wise to shut your mouth!”

Mildew backed up away from my threat, his expression continuing to stay plastered with irritation but on his part he did not venture to say anything further.

“Hawken’s right,” Stoick said loudly, shouldering his way to the center of the crowd and looking around. “I do not believe we have anything to worry about from any of the dragons who are still here. They have been loyal thus far, I will have faith they will be loyal to the end of this. I saw them as we were fighting and as Hoark said they were defending the village as well as any of us Vikings were.” He glanced pointedly at Mildew. “Better, perhaps even, than some.” Mildew only rolled his eyes in reply and turned away, muttering under his breath. Stoick ignored this, naturally, and continued to address the crowd.

“Right now, we have a far more important concern to deal with than fighting each other over who did what damage. New lumber needs to be brought in from the forest, and we need te get to work rebuilding, immediately. Everyone here has experience; you know your jobs. Now get to work!”

Stoick stood watching as most of the village began to move off, then turned and looked pointedly at the teens. “The council must convene immediately in the Great Hall. All of you will need to attend this,” he ordered, turning and starting off through the dispersing throng of people.

I glanced at Hiccup who only shrugged. “Eh, we might as well head up there now, and try to figure out what caused this fiasco sooner rather than later,” he suggested. I nodded in agreement, and spread my wings to take off.

Unsurprisingly, we and the other teens were the first to reach the hall, and all of us (dragons included) squeezed inside and took up positions around the fire pit. Not long after, Stoick slammed the doors open and marched in, looking like he had just aged another ten years, followed by members of the village council: Spitelout, Gothi, Phlegma, Gobber, Sigrid, and a few others. Each came to stand around the fire pit as well, a few (those who had no bonded dragons of their own) notably taking up positions as far as they could from the teens’ dragons.

Stoick clapped his hands together and garnered the attention of the gathered. “We all know something’s wrong, that much is obvious,” he announced. “What we do not know yet is what exactly has happened or why. This meeting has been called so that we may be able to focus on solving this dilemma, _not_ whether our dragons in the village will be next or not.”

“Ye have to admit though, it should be of concern if yer son’s Night Fury goes feral,” Spitelout interjected, “or Ember’s Shadowracer. Toothless is able te fly on his own again now, and we all know what it was like years ago when he actively attacked the village.”

“An occurrence that will not happen again, that I can swear to you,” said Night Fury quipped in reply. Spitelout, one of the handful of Vikings who had as yet not encountered Toothless’ newest gift, gave a double take at the direct addressment.

“What-when did he start speakin’ like that?” he spluttered. “About a month ago,” Stoick replied tiredly. “But, that is not important at the moment. What is, is that we attempt to figure out our current situation.”

The chief turned to Fishlegs. “You’re the one who is good with dragon facts and details; what information do we know about this?” Fishlegs fidgeted a bit, never one to be used to rapt attention aimed at him, before pulling out a stack of books and notes he always seemed to have in Meatlug’s saddle.

“I, uh, found these while we were waiting for the meeting to begin,” he explained, spreading out a number of papers across the stone. “According to what Toothless told us earlier, the dragons came in from the southeast, the same direction as the original dragon’s nest.” There was a murmur of voices, before Fishlegs held up his hands to regain attention.

“I’m not finished yet,” he quipped. “The dragons who attacked included not only fully wild and roaming dragons, but also those dragons around the village who had no specific rider or partner.” He pointed at Toothless, and then at the other dragons in the hall sequentially. “No dragon with a rider or permanent companion appears to have been affected by whatever drew the others away. Also, unlike with raids in the past none of the dragons that attacked showed any signs of acting under their own coordination even after sustaining injuries like Toothless did years ago. This was information both Hawken and Hiccup witnessed firsthand tonight.”

Fishlegs looked up at Stoick. “I’ve had a theory for a couple years now, that dragons that bond with a partner undergo a chemical change, rendering them unresponsive or immune to the call of higher, or alpha dragons, and this would explain why none of the fully incorporated village dragons have been drawn away. But any wild dragon is still affected by alphas such as the Red Death from years ago.

“This raid has a lot of similarities with those we once had too, too many for it to be coincidence, and I can’t believe that we forgot to check the old nest for something like this, but at this point it doesn’t matter now.” Fishlegs pulled out another folded parchment, undoing it and laying the sheet out across the others. The image drawn on it sent chills through every person in the room. It had massive, tattered wings, a club tail, and a thick head with three beady sets of eyes.

“This is what I am fearing is behind the raids, again,” Fishlegs spoke quietly. “There are simply far too many things that line up; the targeting of livestock, the uncoordinated pattern of the attack, and the direction of travel the flock took.”

“But we killed that beast, an’ we all saw it crumble to nothing in that explosion,” Phlegma spoke up. “It no longer exists te sway the dragons.”

“You really think there couldn’t be more than one of any large species?” Hiccup retorted. “We know that we battled one, and Ember brought with her a story about issues her people had with a second near the far Mediterranean. It appears we are going to be facing a third of that same race.”

Fishlegs nodded in agreement. “Yes, but there’s another complicating factor: there were more dragons present in this raid than we have ever had before. Had it been the same number our damages and casualties would have been nowhere near the rate it was tonight. A dozen houses are needing to be rebuilt, and we lost ten sheep and two henhouses. Even a fully mature Red Death like the last one is going to have limits on how many dragons it can control. Plus, much like how Toothless and the other dragons were able to be knocked out of influence, either via time or a jarring event, these dragons should have too. The ones that were knocked unconscious and put in the arena are showing no such signs.”

Fishlegs now glanced at me. “There is something else at work here too, and I can’t figure it out. Either we’re not just up against a normal Red Death, if that is in fact what we’ll find, or there may be two, or something we’ve overlooked. Neither Hiccup or Toothless came out unscathed from the battle last time either, and while we’re all a lot more experienced than back then, they also got lucky as well.” He fixed me with a pointed stare, before giving Stoick one as well. “We have been put back into the position that we have absolutely no clue what we’re really up against.”

Silence. This revelation had stripped us of just about all our ideas. Finally though, Stoick spoke. “Well, for once I can’t say I know what to do either,” he admitted. “Hiccup, Fishlegs, you and the other riders need te look into this situation, but we can’t afford to send anyone out there te investigate until we’re done rebuilding, at least, and even that will take a couple more days. In the meantime, if anyone any ideas, come straight to me with them.”

Snotlout immediately raised his hand to speak, before Stoick interrupted. “Let me rephrase that so that we are all perfectly clear: any ideas that do _not_ involve barging in to blow the mountain up like we tried to last time.” Unsurprisingly, Snotlout visibly deflated, and slouched back into the seat he’d grabbed, pouting.

Soon after, the meeting adjourned, and I walked out next to Hiccup and Toothless. “The next few days are going to be a lot of work,” I commented. “Yeah, no kidding,” Hiccup responded. “I’m going to need both your and Ember’s help in the forge whenever you have spare time to get everything reshaped or remade that we’ll need.”

“Well, I do have at least one idea that may help cheer all of us up,” I suggested, halting in my steps and turning to look straight at Hiccup. “See, the sequel to your original movie comes out in two days. You want to go see it?”

Hiccup mulled it over for a moment, before shrugging. “Eh, sure, why not? We can take Cami along if she shows up at all too, and go stare at DreamWorks’ version of me on a big screen.” He snorted. “At least we’ll be able to laugh a little.”

If only we’d known…


	8. Seeing the Sequel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aside from the chapters in earlier books where everybody came over and watched the original film, this is probably the closest I will ever get to writing one of those "seeing the movie" type fics. Never did really understand the interest in those...

_After hanging around Hawken for so many years, sometimes the scariest things are not those easily within our grasp of reality. The most frightening experiences have been those where fiction, a tale made up to entertain, have been given a breath of life, slammed into us so unexpectedly that we’re caught completely unprepared. My own was a tale that Hawken once thought fantasy, and it became much more than that. Whatever is to come from the next chapter, I hesitate to say I’m ready to find out…._

_~Hiccup, on his reflections about How to Train Your Dragon 2_

Thursday afternoon, Berk received visitors. As I was busy helping Gunnar lift up a wooden beam so that it could be hammered into place on a sheep stable, I spotted the dragons coming in from the south, and recognized them immediately: a long, golden tinted Mood dragon, and a silver hued Nightmare.

I grinned and, after making sure the beam I was holding wouldn’t suddenly collapse and take the rest of the structure with it, flew off to gather Hiccup.

“So, guess who just decided to show up?” I toned innocently as I flew into the forge, landing and turning human while ignoring Gobber’s protests as a couple pages fluttered away from my entrance. Hiccup, who unsurprisingly was at his desk in the back room, leaned back and glanced at me sarcastically (yes, he possesses a sarcastic _look_ ).

“Well, I didn’t hear any warning horns or screaming people, so I’m going to assume it’s not another raid. Who?” “Does a Mood dragon and silver Nightmare ring a bell?”

Hiccup’s eyes widened, followed by his smile as he jumped up from his seat and ran straight out the door. “Camicazi! Thuggory! Great to see you again!” he called out as the two riders came in for a landing with their dragons. “We didn’t get any prior notices; what brings you to Berk on this fine day? Something good, I hope?”

Camicazi shook her head as she slid off of Stormfly’s back. “Sorry to disappoint you Mr. Chipper, but I’m afraid not,” she stated. “We actually came looking for both of you.” At this she looked pointedly at Hiccup, then at me, and held up her arm, wrist facing up. Halfway up her forearm, there was a silvery mark not unlike the one that had shown up on Astrid. This one, however, had a pair of curved blades instead of Astrid’s straight ones, giving it a more mysterious appearance.

I nodded, understanding immediately. “Yeah, so I’m guessing that happened during the eclipse, am I right?” I asked. When Cami and Thuggory both nodded, I continued. “Well, join the club! We were all marked. The teens, I mean. It’s mostly a hypothesis at the moment, but we think they’re symbols for our strengths or abilities. And I’m guessing here that yours stands for speed, agility, and weaponry. Considering the curve to those blades I’m seeing I’m just going to throw in a hint of mischief as well.”

“And what about mine here?” Thuggory queried, walking up and uncovering his shoulder as he tried to ignore Cami’s smirk. On it, there was a silhouette of an ornate axe. I pursed my lips. “Well, axes are a weapon that requires strength, like Snotlout’s hammer mark, but I’d say it means you’re a little sharper than he is; more tactful in battle and around others, too.”

“Well, that’s not really saying a whole lot, now is it?” Thuggory joked, grinning and earning a snicker from Cami. I shrugged in response. “Well, again, it’s only a theory,” I placated, “but nothing has struck down the idea. And, one thing we know for sure now: you’re stuck with us, like it or not.” “Gee, stuck with Snotlout, the Twins, and Cami; how will I survive?” Thuggory cried in mock fear.

“Okay, okay, so that wasn’t all we came here for,” Cami piped up again. “None of our dragons were affected, obviously, but all the wild ones around the islands and the dragons that just kind of hung around in the villages all disappeared.” “And, two days ago a fair number of them attacked us,” Stormfly added.

I glanced at Hiccup, who frowned, and his anxious gaze turned to Camicazi. “Well, the same thing happened here,” he explained. “We think that there…there might be another Red Death at the original dragon’s nest.”

Cami’s eyes widened. “Well, then we need to get rid of it!” she exclaimed. “Come on, there’re more of us who know what we’re doing, so we should have a good shot of taking this one down without”-

“No we don’t, I’m afraid,” I cut in, leaving Cami staring at me, confused and deflated. “The dragons that attacked? They were not under their own power at all,” I explained. “The raids that used to happen, where they stole food and more or less randomly, or accidentally, destroyed things, they did out of fear and only a little control on the Death’s part. Sometimes they could act out of their own accord, or be knocked out of influence. These ones couldn’t.”

Silence took over for a moment as our visitors mulled this over. “So….what are you implying?” Thuggory queried cautiously. “That there is something else at work here as well,” I replied.

“You think it’s Jezebel again?” Cami asked. I shook my head. “If so, not directly. She possessed dragons; made them act of their own accord, but in complete obedience to her and her soldiers, as if she were a beloved queen. This isn’t her style. Not to mention if you recall last time she likes to play her own personal hand too.”

“Plus when Odin threw her into that portal he wasn’t sending her back to her base,” Hiccup added. “And she had nothing going for her. It would take a while for Jezebel to get back home and prepare for another attack, if she got home at all.”

Toothless happened to amble up at that moment, distracting everyone from the dark conversation, and nodded in greeting to our visitors. Cami nodded back, before looking at him curiously. “Say, Hiccup?” she asked. “You and Toothless are pretty close, and this issue doesn’t seem to affect dragons with riders. You think you two would be able to go in and check out what’s happening?”

Hiccup shook his head almost immediately in response. “Not without backup, at least, and we’re all rather busy for a few days yet.” “Plus, with the last Red Death, the effect got stronger the nearer to the nest you got, so if the same thing happens here we could all be in danger,” Toothless muttered, earning shocked stares from both Cami and Thuggory.

“Okay, so when did he start talking?” Cami queried. “Eh, about a month or so ago,” Hiccup replied. “About the same time I started understanding Dragonese, thanks both to our resident dragon boy here.”

He gestured to me, and I shrugged in response. “But, in any case, Toothless is right though,” I said. “If the effects gain magnitude the nearer to the nest we get, then I fear that whatever cancelling effect the bond with a rider may have could yet be overridden, and if that happens we only have me to help drag anyone back. And if nothing else it would be smart to have at least a few riders around in case even one dragon does go haywire.”

Cami nodded, giving off a disappointed sigh. “Well, when will we be able to do that?” “Couple days,” I answered, “after everything is built up again. But, if you want, we are going to take a couple people and go watch a movie tomorrow to have some fun and lighten the mood. And, you both are welcome to join us.”

The frown the heiress wore turned upside down, before it deflated again slightly. “Hold on for just one second. Would Snotface be tagging along with us?” I snorted and shook my head. “Uh, no. I don’t trust him or the twins to keep things quiet when we visit my world. The furthest any of them are allowed is my house, and even then under strict supervision.” Cami grinned again. “Well, then, sure why not? We’ll join you. Right Thuggory?”

“There’s really no point in my saying no if I wanted to now, is there?” Thuggory asked rhetorically. “Nope! I’ll drag you with us,” Cami teased lightly, dancing away with Stormfly to do who-knows-what before the next day.

I sighed. “She’s going to be the death of us one day too, huh?”

* * *

Later that afternoon, I delivered the spare clothing I had accumulated to those who were tagging along with me, telling them that they needed to be wearing the new outfits when I picked them up at the cove the next morning. I was going to be working again in the morning, so we would all be in a hurry to get to the theater immediately afterward.

True to my word, at about 10:40 the next morning, I rushed home from the nursery and popped straight through the portal. Everyone whom I had invited to go along with was waiting, as expected, above the cove.

“Alright, everyone set to leave?” I asked as I landed in front of them. They all jumped up and nodded before heading toward the portal: Astrid, Ember, Hiccup, Camicazi and Thuggory.

“And why, exactly, do you guys get to see this and we don’t again?” Stormfly queried, standing above us as we filed into the ring of trees. I sighed and turned to her, expression serious. “Because this is not entertainment in a form I can bring home just yet,” I explained, “as it has only been released today in theaters, and I know I’ve explained what that is to you. I’m also sure I’ve been over how people would react to another dragon showing up around town, hmm?”

Stormfly visibly deflated. “Fine, fine, leave us here,” she grumbled. “I will,” I quipped. “We’re going to be late already anyway.” I turned and slipped through the portal, beginning to morph on the other side. I wanted a little bit of an entrance (this was a dragon movie, after all), so I went with an oversized Night Fury, and the teens climbed on. “Hang on tight!” I warned cheerfully, and launched upward.

As expected, the sparse number of people outside the theater immediately balked as we landed, but shook it off as I morphed once the others climbed off. People from my town were slowly starting to get used to the idea, after all that time, of a dragon flying around, but the shocked stares continued for just a little longer when we walked past the movie display.

Hiccup noticed the looks he was getting, and glanced over at the animated rendition of him and Toothless. “Heh, rather accurate actually,” he commented. “Though, my outfit isn’t quite that full of knickknacks yet.” “The key word here is yet,” Astrid drawled, earning a snicker from Ember and Thuggory. I smirked, and headed toward the ticket counter.

“Six for the 3D How to Train Your Dragon Two,” I said, putting my personal coupon I snagged from the internet on the counter and pulling out my debit card. The cashier nodded, before his attention was drawn away from me and toward the teens who stood behind me. “Are…are they, like, dressed for the movie or something?” he queried. I glanced back, and smirked, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “Something like that.”

The clothes I had picked for everyone were all very similar to what they wore (or would have, if they were in this version of the new movie) on screen. The cashier only nodded then, muttering something about “nerds” under his breath, and handed me the tickets. Then, after I made sure to buy some popcorn, we headed toward the back of the theater.

“Thanks!” Hiccup called back to the cashier, and as we turned the corner, we all heard the guy mutter, “Good grief, he even sounds like Hiccup!”

That did it: we all broke out into giggles. “Gee, if only he knew,” Cami laughed.

The theater was relatively empty, both fortunately and somewhat disappointingly (what HTTYD fan isn’t disheartened by an empty theater at the sequel?), so we had no trouble snagging good seats right in the middle. A few minutes later, at least a handful of people had wandered in, and at least one of them was another recognizable friend of mine.

“Hey Hawken! Thanks for inviting us!” Garret said as he and someone whom I assumed was another friend of his sat down nearby. “Nice to see you here too!” I replied. He nodded, before glancing at the group who’d tagged along with me. “So, uh, who are your new friends here? I don’t think we’ve met,” he asked.

I grinned. “Well, everyone, first off this is Garret,” I introduced to the Berkians. They all waved at him. “And Garret, this is Thuggory, Camicazi, Ember, and…well, I want you to try and guess who these two are.” I gestured to the characters everyone seemed to have no problem recognizing.

Garret gave me an odd look. “Well, I’ve…I’ve never met them, how would I know them?” I chuckled, and gestured for the two to take off their 3D glasses for a moment. “Well, try this: think of the movie we’re watching, and tell me who they look like.”

Garret and his friend both gave me another odd (and slightly concerned) look, and then there were several seconds of silence before….

“Oh my God!” “Hey, okay, keep it down though,” I hissed. Garret only stared at me. “You mean-you mean to tell me that we’re sitting with the”-

“Ssshhh!!” I hissed again, before nodding as my grin returned. “Consider it a bonus today; you’ve met the characters.” Garret nodded slowly, slowly growing aware of Ember and the others trying to hold in their laughter at his and his friend’s reaction. “So that’s how you…uh…” “Yep,” I replied. “Yeah, but try to keep it under wraps, the world is not quite ready to know the whole spiel yet. Your friend there too.” I nodded to the girl who had tagged along with Garret, who was still looking at Hiccup and Astrid open-mouthed.

About ten minutes later, after the previews had run through, the film finally began, and almost immediately the race caught both Astrid and Cami’s attentions raptly.

“We have got to start something like that on a regular basis,” Astrid whispered. I snickered. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out too. Just…don’t get too carried away.”

Hiccup had also pulled out a pen and paper, and as the movie rolled onward I watched out of the corner of my eye as he wrote down notes and ideas, taking details of the inventions they’d put into the film. What I was really watching him for, however, was his reaction when the Stormcutter appeared on screen. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Hiccup jerked in his seat when the figure loomed into view, and turned a shocked eye to me. “Hawken, that’s-that’s the dragon we saw!” he whispered loudly. I nodded somewhat grimly. “Yeah, keep watching. There’s more.”

Five minutes later, none of my friends were moving. Even Cami and Thuggory were silent, having been informed by Hiccup about our encounter weeks before with the Stormcutter. Now they all realized what I’d meant those weeks before as well.

“It could just be coincidence though,” I muttered, but Hiccup wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “Same dragon, same rider-at least from what we could see…”

Everyone reading this probably knows the outline of the sequel, so I won’t describe it here, but what I will describe is our enjoyment of it, for the most part: the tense scenes with Eret, Drago, and the teens, all of us laughing at Ruffnut’s portrayed fascination with the trapper as well as Gobber’s attempted rendition of ‘For the Dancing and the Dreaming,’ and Cami had the gall to tease Hiccup about the tears he shed when we watched the reunion scenes of his family.

Then it happened. A good film producer knows how to pull on the heartstrings of their audience, and they know the weak spots of the viewers, and this time they hit the nail in our wrists right on the head.

Toothless, under the power of Drago’s Bewilderbeast, fired at Hiccup….and Stoick saved his son. But not himself.

“Oh…oh God….no, no, no,” I whispered. “Hiccup, I…I can’t believe I brought you to see this.” I was crying, even though I knew this was fiction, but I could only imagine what kind of thoughts the scene sent through the star of the show. Sure enough, Hiccup looked at me, and I could see immediately that I wasn’t the only one losing tears. Glancing around quickly, in fact, every single one of us had teardrops rolling down our faces.

“Okay, look it…it isn’t real,” Hiccup whispered, trying to placate my feelings of shame for having brought him to see a rendition of the death of his father. But it didn’t help; I could see that he was also trying to convince himself.

Astrid leaned up against him, hugging him, and I placed my hand on his shoulder. Thuggory and Cami did the same, being close enough to, and we just sat like that through the funeral scene, crying and riding out the emotional rollercoaster this movie had just put us all through.

“It…even sounds like something I would say,” Hiccup commented softly as the movie picked up again. “I know this isn’t the place really to pour my heart out, I’ll admit, but…I do kind of…kind of want to be like my father. Am I really in the place to grow up into a position like he holds though?”

“You will be,” I assured. “At the very least you’ll be a great leader, Hiccup.” He nodded, all of us trying to wipe the tears out of our eyes. “And,” I added, “when we get back, I need your team sword. I’m engraving that heart and soul saying on it.” Hiccup only nodded again, but he didn’t say anything more.

* * *

In the end, the movie turned out pretty well, and even after that heart-wrenching moment we were still able to enjoy the rest somewhat. But that dark shadow of a feeling still hung on our heads. When it ended, we stayed put, watching some of the credits roll up the screen, before finally slowly standing as a group to leave. I glanced at the still half-full box of popcorn (we’d been too riveted to the screen to eat), before handing it to Thuggory, who after everything still managed to have an appetite.

“Hey, wanted to say thanks again for inviting us,” Garret said as we started to head out. “And, uh, Hiccup? Astrid? It was an honor to actually meet you.”

“Likewise,” Astrid said, smiling and taking Garret’s outstretched hand, shaking it firmly before elbowing Hiccup to get him to do the same. “And sorry about the sad part,” Garret continued. “I’m…I’m sure everything is actually just fine, uh, wherever you’re from.”

“Yeah, it probably is,” Hiccup agreed reluctantly. “It was nice meeting you.”

We parted ways after that, Garret and his friend heading toward the mall as the teens and I headed out the theater into the plaza, sitting down for a breather moment on the benches. “I’m sure that this is just me being anxious, but I really hope that didn’t just foretell our future somehow,” Hiccup muttered quietly. “I mean, we actually did run into that Stormcutter a few weeks ago, and I know at least I saw someone riding it.”

I shrugged. “Well, it seems events from movies and stories I read seem to often actually happen,” I toned, “but then if everything I read actually happened we’d have multiple dimensions to deal with. Roll of the dice, and it may well be coincidence.” Hiccup only snorted, before sarcastically replying, “Well, if I’m out and about flying one of these days and I suddenly get kidnapped out of the blue, then I guess we’ll”-

“Well, look at what we have here,” a new voice suddenly interjected, laced with derision. We all looked up to find a small group of rather unfriendly looking teens sauntering toward us. “Hey, seems like we found a wild flock of uber-geeks!” the one who’d spoken first continued. He was skinny, with short blond hair, and was dressed up in the classic wannabe-gangster outfit: baggy shorts, black baseball cap on the wrong way with a pair of sunglasses riding on top, some obscene T-shirt half-covered by a black and white patterned hoodie. His friends behind him were similarly decked out, and not a single one acting like they had a lick of common sense.

“So, did you nerds actually dress up to go see that movie?” his friend, black-haired with a black hoodie, joined in. “Oh, you two look just like the characters,” he leered at Hiccup and Astrid. “How adorable!”

“No, actually, this is just how we look,” Astrid snapped, eyes narrowing in warning. “And we’re not in the mood to debate with jerks like you. Move along and preserve what little brain you have left.”

“Oh, such and attitude from such a pretty thing as you,” the blonde replied, looking her up and down. I literally felt Astrid’s anger rise a notch, and Hiccup’s attitude darken as well. “Now let me guess, you all went to go see the kiddie dragon movie, and you all cried when the boy’s poor daddy died, right?”

“Hey, knock it off before I knock you out, got it?” Cami snapped, standing up warningly. The blond guy just smirked, not impressed by the short blond girl’s threat, before glancing at Hiccup again. “Oh, come on,” he taunted, “that is what happened in the movie right? Yeah, I saw all the spoilers online, how the famous, lovable, loyal, friendly _dragon_ killed Hiccup’s”-

I felt more than saw Hiccup reach for his pocket as the teen rambled on. “Hiccup don’t-!” I started, but it was too late to react. Hiccup whipped out a sheath, and from it a Mysteel dagger, and stood up right in the wannabe’s face before any of the rest of us could move.

“I don’t know a whole lot about how the society around here works, but I know one universal truth,” Hiccup growled. “Death is _never_ something to mock. What if it were in real life? Would you laugh then? Do you think losing family is funny?!”

Hiccup’s outburst was bold enough, none of the blond teen’s friends dared move forward to help, and the confronted boy blinked in shock, taking a step backward and staring very anxiously at the gleaming blade in Hiccup’s hand.

“At this point, I don’t care who knows, so listen very, very carefully,” he hissed. “I. Am. Hiccup. I am the boy from the movie, and that was _my_ father whom they portrayed being killed. Granted they have creative license, and it’s a movie, it’s fiction, but it is still kind of hard on a guy to watch his father die in any fashion.”

He spun the blade and held it in front of the teen’s face, letting the sunlight catch the edge. “Your mouth could get you a new makeover, right here, right now. This knife can cut through anything, even granite. Your skin, your clothes wouldn’t be anything in comparison. So you listen here and listen well: I will not stand to have anyone smack talk my friends, or my family, and I do not care what world they live in.”

Hiccup stepped back slowly after that, sheathing the blade and hiding it out of sight. “I’m a nice person,” he said, “so this time I’ll be kind and let you go with a stern warning. I see you mouthing off again and you’ll face a public humiliation like you’ve never imagined.” He glanced around before smirking darkly. “And, there aren’t a whole lot of people out here right now to back you up on what just happened, so it won’t do a whole lot to call the police to try and get me in trouble.” He leveled a glare at the wannabes again. “After all, I don’t live in this world either; they won’t find me anywhere. And I’m sure they’ll believe your story as well about being threatened by a cartoon.”

Hiccup glanced at me before walking off. “I think it’s time to leave, don’t you?” he called. I blinked, before looking at the others; we’d all been caught off guard by Hiccup’s outburst. Dumbly, I just shook my head, before dropping forward and morphing out again. The blond and his friends took a step back as my wings flared out, and I gave them a snarl just to make sure they would think twice about taking any action (no one is stupid enough to cross a Night Fury in my town), before everyone that had tagged along with me climbed on and we took off, leaving the jerks behind. When I looked back, they were still standing there with disbelieving looks on their faces.

“You know Hiccup, that was kind of really stupid and out of line,” I remarked as we landed back at my house. “Keep doing things like that and you are going to get me in a lot of trouble one of these days.”

Hiccup sighed dejectedly as he slid off my back, before nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I know. And I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I overreacted, and…well, that was just a mess. But you know I was not feeling all happy good and fuzzy at the time.”

“Neither are we, after that scene, but you don’t see the rest of us threatening the local airheads with Mysteel daggers,” Ember retorted. “And it wasn’t your father who they took a shot at,” Hiccup snapped back.

No one said anything for a moment, the tension mounting over that statement again. “Sorry,” Hiccup finally mumbled, cupping his head in his hands and sitting down on the steps of the deck for a moment. “He’s fine, and I shouldn’t feel so upset.” I nodded and sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, but we can at least understand a little how you feel. You need to go and find Stoick, and talk to him about this, alright? Nothing’s going to get fixed otherwise.”

Hiccup sighed again, but nodded in agreement. I smiled slightly as we stood up once more and everyone started off toward the portal. As we stepped through though, a new worry suddenly arose in me, and was confirmed almost right away on the other side.

The first thing we found when we walked through was Toothless, who immediately got up at seeing us. “Hey, you’re back! Tell me, was it good? Did they portray me accurately?” he asked, bounding happily up to Hiccup. Hiccup, on the other hand, reeled back from the action, face clouding in an expression of fear and a sliver of resentment. Toothless, of course, immediately noticed the reaction his surrogate brother gave and came skidding to a halt, his own expression morphing to one of great concern. “What…what happened?” he asked quietly. “What did I do?”

I glared at Hiccup, who immediately realized what he’d done and began to relax, calming down and clearing his mind of the improper thoughts that had hit him. “Oh, Toothless, I’m so sorry,” he said. “It’s just….it’s…it’s hard to explain.” He took a step forward, closing the distance between the two and laying a hand on Toothless’ forehead.

“Hiccup, take Toothless and go find your father, now,” Astrid ordered. “You need to work it out with them and assure yourself that everything is fine, okay?” Hiccup didn’t answer at first, staring absently at the ground as he rubbed Toothless’ head, before nodding and moving slowly to climb onto the dragon’s saddle. Toothless in turn looked at me with an asking expression of anxiety, and I simply gestured my head in the direction of the village.

After they had taken off, I looked to the rest of the teens, and their dragons who had gathered at the odd occurrence. “We need to ensure that absolutely nothing like that ever does happen,” I said pointedly. “Those two have a bond stronger than most siblings I know, and if anything even close to that scene actually happens….I truly fear the result.”

The others nodded in agreement. We all knew how close Hiccup and Toothless were, and those two were the heart of the group. If they broke….

“Well, the first thing is we need to solve the issue at the dragon’s nest,” Cami spoke up, her mind immediately turning to the tactical skills she possessed when her mischievous side couldn’t function, “and then we need to go and find out who this coincidentally familiar rider on the Stormcutter is.”

I nodded slowly, and glanced again at the retreating black dot that was boy and Night Fury. “I only hope those two will be able to fix this issue between them before that occurs,” I murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- And that scene definitely was not in Hiccup's character...really no matter how stressed he'd be. Still some parts where I wrote my own thoughts into a scene rather than theirs, hopefully getting better about that as we go....


	9. Collision Course

_The boundaries are blurred_

_In the real world_

_The lines between truth and tale_

_Past and future intertwine_

_In a fractal vision of reality_

_When one meets the other_

_The ground shakes_

_And the foundations of life will crack_

_Our peace and standing cease to exist_

_When our world is thrown from our grasp_

There wasn’t any time left for debate. After the raid that had swept through and so many dragons had been taken, she had no longer any choice left but to find out if that boy and his allies were friends or foes.

She and her Stormcutter had watched, unseen, the Night Fury and his rider from a distance for several weeks now, whenever the pair had taken flight around the back of or away from their island. Something was dangerously familiar about him, but she simply could not pin down what it was, not without bringing him in.

Deep in the cavern, she lay against her dragon, working to finally muster up the courage to go out and actually confront the pair as she needed to. There were multiple ways to test them, to understand what the relationship between these people and their dragons were, but she knew in several of them the pair would have to be brought back to the nest, so that she could come to understand without risk of being found out too early.

She sighed, knowing that she was procrastinating and avoiding the inevitable, and looked again to the Stormcutter, who crooned in curiosity and concern for her.

“It’s time, Cloudjumper,” she said tiredly. The dragon nodded understandingly and slowly stood up, bending over slightly so that his rider could climb on, hooking her staff around his spinal crests and hoisting herself up. Then, he roared out loudly and took off out through the narrow entrance and into daylight, a veritable cloud of dragons following him who were still somehow strong enough to resist the opposing force that was trying to pull them away from their home.

The entire flock glided upward, entering the clouds to hide them from easy sight, and set their aim toward Berk.

* * *

“Dad, I…I need to talk to you, right now.”

It had taken until the next morning for Hiccup to finally feel like he was ready to speak about what he and his friends had seen. Stoick looked up, slightly surprised, from where he was whittling over the table, to find his son standing at the bottom of the stairs and looking like he hadn’t had a wink of sleep, Toothless standing worriedly behind him.

Stoick carefully set down the knife and duck carving he’d been working on, and folded his hands as he turned to face Hiccup fully. “Well, then, go ahead,” he encouraged. “Is everything alright?”

Hiccup started to speak, before seeming to think better of it and instead opting to shrug uncertainly as he moved to sit down in a nearby chair. “Well, I-I don’t know if anything is actually wrong, per se,” he said slowly, motioning for Toothless to come sit by both of them. “It’s just…the movie we saw yesterday, it…I feel like we saw a horrible omen.”

“Oh? Well ye knew it would be about us, more or less,” Stoick toned, “and they’d be wanting te make things exciting for their audience.”

“They killed you.”

Stoick’s mouth closed immediately, and he looked straight at Hiccup with sudden understanding. “I see,” he said quietly. “Oh, Hiccup, it wasn’t real. I’m still here, and I’m nae leaving this family any time soon.”

Hiccup sighed. “I know, but…they did it in the worst way they could.” He looked at his father, and then at Toothless. “They put Toothless under the control of another dragon, an alpha like the Red Death was, and they made him try to kill me…” he looked at his father again, “and you…you took the shot instead.”

“So…that’s why you reacted the way you did yesterday,” Toothless whispered. He looked shamefully at the floor, now realizing why Hiccup had felt so afraid around him the day before.

Stoick reached over and placed his hand under the Night Fury’s jaw, lifting his head up. “Hey, ye haven’t done anything wrong, and I trust ye with my life,” he reassured, smiling lightly. “And even more importantly, I trust ye with Hiccup.” Toothless glanced away, mulling the words over, before slowly nodding and turning to look at Stoick and Hiccup. “And I swear, on my own life, I will fight to make certain that no one ever hurts either of you, including me,” he stated. He leaned over and rubbed his head up against Hiccup as the boy gave him a thankful scratch, and Stoick moved forward to embrace both of them.

“But…what if something does happen?” Hiccup asked still, breaking the moment of peace. “We ran into a Stormcutter several weeks ago, I told you about that. And, there was one in the movie. Both had riders.” He looked pointedly at Stoick. “And, in the movie, the rider…it was my mother.”

“Valka?” Stoick asked carefully, feeling the stab of an old pain in his heart. Hiccup nodded. Neither said anything for a moment, the only movement being Toothless as he curled around both of his family members for support.

“Well,” Stoick began slowly, “it could just be coincidence”- “And that’s what Hawken said as well,” Hiccup interjected. “-but if something does actually come of this, we have a warning now,” Stoick continued. “And maybe we can work to make things happen differently. After all, I’m sure not everything is the same here as it was in the film, right?” He gestured to his son and Toothless. “We are a family, and nothing is going to break that.”

Hiccup looked up at his father, before standing up and hugging him, hard. “Thanks Dad,” he whispered, tears spilling down his face again. Stoick only smiled and returned the embrace to his son. “You’re welcome.”

They stayed that way for a minute, before Stoick released his grip and stepped backward, looking his son up and down. “Now, ye seem te have had a hard morning,” he said lightly. “Go and take Toothless, and just take a flight around for a while. I’ll give Gobber an extra hand, and I can tell ye need it. You two still need to fully reconcile this between each other, too.” Hiccup glanced at Toothless, whose eyes had widened with hopefulness, and he smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll, uh, try to be back before sunset at least.”

As Hiccup and Toothless bounded out the front door and disappeared into the air, Stoick’s smile fell with their departure and he looked toward the painting hanging above the mantle of the cooking fire pit. He still remembered the day Bucket had painted it: a thin, reddish-brown haired woman with piercing green eyes and a warm, knowing smile, standing next to Stoick and holding a tiny bundle.

Stoick sighed and walked toward the painting, his hand brushing the edge of the delicate strokes. “If only it were true,” he said quietly. “After all these years, I still miss you Val.”

* * *

<So, do you want to talk about it?> Toothless queried, glancing up at his rider as they soared up above the ocean-like layer of clouds that had gathered. Hiccup shrugged. “There really isn’t much left to say is there?” he replied. “I was put on edge for no good reason, and I’ve been overreacting.”

He leaned forward and patted Toothless on the cheek. “I trust you with my life Toothless, and I say that honestly. You’re as close as any brother could be to me.”

Toothless nodded, a genuine smile growing across his face. <We’re brothers in spirit Hiccup. You and I aren’t very different at the heart, and I would trust you with everything too. We both have already, in fact.> “I know,” Hiccup sighed, lying back across the dragon’s spine. “I’m still going to apologize for yesterday though. It wasn’t real, what I saw, and you have never let me down.” Toothless smiled warmly. <And I never will, so long as I’m here.>

The pair flew in mostly silence after that, breaking the tranquility of the rare peaceful afternoon only for the occasional bout of acrobatics or lighthearted teasing, and as the sun moved lazily overhead they found themselves relaxing fully as the thermals carried the pair effortlessly above the clouds, just high enough to stay in the clear air. Neither noticed how far from Berk they had actually wandered, but neither cared. It was warm, calm, and beautiful, and both boys found themselves lost in the moment.

* * *

It was the perfect opportunity; neither of the pair saw her head as she carefully peered up through the sea of clouds, and there was no one else in sight, or at least not close enough to be watching that would try and stop them. She could take both, with the element of surprise on her side, and bring them back to the caverns. There, she could finally find out if they could in fact be trusted, or another enemy that would then be all too easily removed.

She directed her dragon to descend again with the slightest tap of her staff, and then the two moved up ahead into the path of the Night Fury and his rider. A nearby Nadder she directed behind, to grab the boy when they were properly distracted. Then, they waited for the right moment.

* * *

Toothless’ ears swiveled around as he picked up the faint sound of leathery wings within the clouds, and he suddenly stalled, his own wings flaring out as he slowed to observe his surroundings. <We’re not alone out here anymore,> he growled quietly, and Hiccup slowly sat up, taking in their surroundings as well.

“Is it one of our riders?” he asked cautiously. Toothless shook his head slowly and started to reply, before the sea of clouds below and in front of them exploded upward.

Two massive pairs of wings cleared the vapors and the silhouette flared in front of the afternoon sun, and an owlish head turned to regard them. Toothless’ wings snapped outward as he backpedaled, baring his teeth in warning.

“You,” Hiccup gasped. From atop the Stormcutter stared back a now-familiar figure, dressed with a helmet circled by spikes, and in one hand a makeshift shield while the other spun a long staff bearing a pair of hooked ends.

The figure pointed toward Hiccup with the staff, and before he or Toothless could comprehend what had just occurred, let alone react, Hiccup felt himself wrenched from the saddle, safety hooks slipping off as he dangled from the claws of a bright green Nadder.

Toothless screamed in protest and anger and turned to grab for his rider, but the Stormcutter swerved forward and wrapped his own massive talons around the Night Fury, pinning Toothless’ wings to his sides and effectively immobilizing the dragon.

“Let him go!” Hiccup screamed. “Toothless!!” He squirmed and managed to wrench one arm out from the grip of a talon, before the Nadder dropped him to a nearby rust-colored Nightmare. Toothless attempted to squirm from his captor’s grip as well, and attempted to swivel his head up and around to fire at the Stormcutter, but the larger dragon was experienced with cases like this, and had Toothless pinned so that he couldn’t fire at anything but open air.

Toothless looked helplessly at Hiccup and shook his head dejectedly, and Hiccup sighed inwardly before nodding. Neither of them had any choice but to go with their captors, and Hiccup had a horrible feeling rising within him at just what they were going to be faced with.

The incident did not go fully without notice, however. Miles away, too far to help directly, another rider upon a blue Nadder watched as Hiccup and Toothless were kidnapped, and immediately she knew what was about to transpire. She was too far away to try and help, and knew the other dragons that now surrounded the captive pair would interfere anyway. There was one person who could help though, and he would know how to find them.

“Come on, Thorn,” Astrid urged, turning her mount back toward Berk. “We need to find Stoick and Hawken, now.” The Nadder nodded, and immediately the two sped away. Time was short, especially if what they’d seen the day before would be any indication.

* * *

The Nightmare followed the Stormcutter north, and the growing flock of dragons around them glided in formation toward the approaching island. Piece after piece began to fall in place as well as Hiccup watched the spires of ice rise in front of them out of the bay of the island, stretching up from a cliff side of rock. It was this cliff that they aimed for, the flock gliding into and through a small opening almost right at the junction of stone and crystal. Inside, a twisting tunnel led them deeper and deeper into the teal-tinted mountain.

They entered finally into a large, semi-empty space, appearing nearly black after having been in the bright sun before, and the Nightmare dropped Hiccup unceremoniously to the floor. He hit hard, but rolled quickly to his feet and adopted a defensive stance without hesitation, watching as the Stormcutter circled above.

The rider slide down the massive dragon’s wing and landed without a sound on the stone floor, watching Hiccup intently. The Stormcutter grunted wordlessly and dropped Toothless, hovering backward as the Night Fury immediately twisted around and leapt upward, hissing in rage. When the lunge missed Toothless inched to the side and wrapped protectively around Hiccup, who laid a calming, but alert, hand on the dragon’s shoulder.

“Alright, what do you want,” Hiccup snapped. “First you and your Stormcutter attempted to drive us away from this place a few weeks ago, and then for some unfathomable reason you now decide to up and drag us here? We have our own problems already, what with the dragons disappearing back home and…hey, hey, WHAT are you doing?!”

The rider had moved forward, cocking their head almost animalistically (it reminded Hiccup of Hawken when the teen was being odd) and glancing at Toothless, who bared his teeth again and snapped at the figure.

<Touch my rider again and I’ll roast you faster than you can say fire,> he growled. The rider stopped, and shrank back placatingly, holding their hands up and dropping both staff and shield. Other dragons began to gather closer to them, but the figure held a hand up to them and gestured to stay back.

<I’m still thinking this was a bad idea,> the Stormcutter muttered, mostly to himself. Hiccup snorted, too fed up to realize what he was giving away. “Oh, you think?!” he snarked. “I don’t take kindly to being kidnapped, and my dragon even less so, yet you thought it was a brilliant plan to drag us both away from what was supposed to be a relaxing flight. You _think_ that was a bad idea?”

The Stormcutter cocked his head in confusion, his eyes widening with growing surprise. <I’m sorry, did…did you just reply to me? You understand Dragonese?> he queried cautiously. His rider glanced between the dragon and Hiccup, who only nodded. “Yeah, you weren’t expecting that little tidbit, were you? A gift from a friend of mine, who I’m sure will show up any time now if the rest of you don’t let us walk out of here freely. It wasn’t the only gift either.”

“You can understand dragons?” the rider suddenly asked. Hiccup flinched at the sudden words, and the muffled but clearly feminine voice that came from underneath the mask. “Y-yeah, I can,” he answered slowly. “And I can tell you that me and my dragon are not pleased with being treated like…”

He trailed off as the figure moved forward again, slowly. Toothless bared his teeth again, eyes narrowing to slits and his tail curling tighter around Hiccup’s feet. Then, the rider raised her hand again and opened it wide, twisting it off to the side and downward, a faint vapor releasing from the makeshift gloves she wore. Toothless’ eyes followed the hand, before widening slightly as the vapor reached him and he slumped to the ground. The rider reached forward and found the soft spot under his chin, and seconds later Toothless had been dropped into a blissful state of unawares.

Now Hiccup became the protector, swiping the rider’s hand away and standing above his dragon, pulling the hidden Mysteel dagger from his waist. “Don’t. Touch. Him,” he growled, flashing the blade warningly. The rider stood up, rising tall and seeming to glare down at Hiccup, though it was hard to tell the true expression through the mask they wore.

The next reaction, however, was all too clear. The rider looked at Hiccup’s face, focusing more specifically on his chin, and stepped back in shock, as if they had been punched. Hiccup raised an eyebrow, before flinching as the rider reached slowly, hesitatingly toward him, the hands under the clawed gloves stretching forward and touching his face lightly. They stopped upon the scar inflicted so long ago even Hiccup had forgotten the cause. The next word from the figure, however, shattered his world and made everything as clear as day.

“H-Hiccup?” the rider whispered. Hiccup gasped and reeled back as well, stumbling over his still-unconscious dragon’s tail and falling backward. The rider jerked in shock, before stepping back again as well and crouching low, bringing her hands up to her helmet and slowly removing the covering.

Long, dark reddish-brown hair streaked with sparse gray spilled out in a long braid, and bright green eyes looked out from an angular face that looked both youthful and at the same time worn with age and experience. A shocked, awed look painted her entire expression.

“C-Can it be? After all these years?” she asked almost as if choking on the words. Hiccup, meanwhile, still couldn’t bring himself to utter a syllable, his mind too busy processing another fantasy unfolding before him. _The movie was right_ , was all he could think. _She’s here, she’s alive; my mother is standing right here in front of me!!_ Indeed, his mother stepped forward again, but stopped as Toothless groaned and slowly rolled upright, blinking and glancing down groggily at his rider as he returned to the real world.

“Hiccup, is…is that really you?” the rider nearly whispered again. Finally, at the sound of his name once more, Hiccup gathered the ability to say something in return.

“M-Mom?” he stuttered, vice breaking in a ridiculous squeak. The reaction to his words were nearly the same on her as hers were on him. She stumbled back in shock, shaking her head.

“No, no, you were too young,” she babbled. “You were only months old, you-you barely knew me. How…how…how do you know I am your mother?”

Toothless’ eyes widened as he finally clicked together what had occurred, and he stared at Hiccup. <Is this true?> he asked. <This is your mother?> Hiccup only barely nodded. “It…it’s a long story. I, uh, I know you’re my mother, but I don’t…I don’t know any more than that, anything about you.”

Her eyes stayed wide, though her shoulders did sag slightly at the admittance of his lack of knowledge about her. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’m sure you don’t know much. And that is all my fault. I…left, in a way, and once gone I believed it was better if I had stayed away.” She looked up at Hiccup again, and he could see now that memories were rushing through her, tears threatening to break. “I left a village where I was outcast, and I was taken from a people who hated dragons; taken from you.”

She glanced at the Stormcutter as she said this, garnering strength from his presence, the only constant she’d had. “I had found the truth, and believed I could never return, lest I be branded a traitor and killed, or taken away from you and your father again. I…” she trailed off, the tears beginning to well up and spill out.

Hiccup stood in the center of a whirlwind of emotions. His mother was in fact alive, and the greatest hope that had been awakened by what he’d seen the day before had been given life. But, he also felt anger, and pain from her having left them behind, when she could have so easily come back. He knew if things hadn’t played out as such nothing of what he knew in life would have come about, but with that also came worry, fear about what could be coming next. After all, if part of what he’d seen had come to pass, what of the rest?

Slowly, however, Hiccup began to truly comprehend his mother’s words, and he began reading how she truly felt now. Both their pasts had just been thrust back upon them, and they both were hurt by it. As if knowing, Toothless carefully nudged Hiccup from behind, toward his mother.

<You know what’s right here,> he whispered. Hiccup opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it and nodded. He walked forward slowly, and put his hand on his mother’s shoulder, who flinched and looked up, the guilt and pain of her past decisions etched on her features.

“We…we both have long stories to tell, and pasts to reconcile with,” Hiccup said quietly. “And, I’m thinking that there will be things both of us will be angry at the other about.” He took in a deep breath as he tried to formulate his next words, his mother standing up straight again and her face melting into an unreadable mesh of expressions.

“I’m not going to say I’m not very angry about your leaving us,” Hiccup breathed. “I needed you, Dad needed you, for all these years past. But… I can’t say we’ve both been the best models for family either. And if things hadn’t turned out the way they did, there is a lot I wouldn’t have in my life.” He glanced at Toothless, who smiled knowingly.

Valka looked at him, carefully, as a new emotion wormed its way to the surface: hope. “Then…is there a chance that we…you and I at least…can-can have a second chance?” she asked warily, both needing and afraid of the answer. “I…I found you riding dragons, as in tune with them as I am. You took so much after me even after all these years. I know I don’t have a right to ask, I…I know, but…”

She didn’t finish as she waited anxiously for a reply. Hiccup scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and glanced at his friend, who nodded encouragingly, bringing to mind another friend of theirs who would have a lot to say if Hiccup didn’t at least try to fix this.

“Well, there’s a friend of mine who told us of a belief that everyone should be given opportunities,” he started. “I…I think we need to start off by explaining ourselves, fully. Then, maybe, I can give you a certain answer.”

Valka nodded, before her eyes suddenly widened and a smile graced her features again. “Then I know just where we can talk,” she said more excitedly. “Follow me!”

She turned and ran down a path in the cave, her Stormcutter following her nimbly and the other dragons disappearing from view elsewhere in the cavern. Hiccup stood at a loss for a moment, before Toothless practically shoved him over toward the path Valka had taken. <What are you waiting for?> he asked, turning and leaping himself down the tunnel. <You heard what she said: follow her!>

They raced through the caves, Toothless occasionally having to stop as Hiccup clumsily failed to climb over or around boulders and ice chunks time and time again. All the while, Valka and her dragon only barely stayed in view, slowing enough to let the other pair catch up some, before immediately disappearing around the corner yet again.

Finally, Hiccup and Toothless slipped through a brighter exit, and stepped out into the open, staring awestruck at the sight that unfolded before them.

Just like what he’d seen only the day before, Hiccup stood upon a high ledge jutting out into a massive open space. Domes and spears of greenish ice rose from hexagonal columns of rock high above his head, the walls and ground covered in lush thickets of green ferns and mosses.

And, all around, though sparser in number than Hiccup had expected, dragons of all shapes and sizes flew or hung from the columns or just lazed about on ledges and outcrops. Hiccup simply stood for a moment and stared until Toothless finally barked to get his attention, and gestured to the side.

On the wall, the Stormcutter hung from the rock columns, and hanging from his claws on her staff was Valka. She smiled knowingly and dropped carefully to the ground. “I think this is as good as any place to talk,” she said lightly. “Don’t you agree?” Hiccup only nodded slightly, still a little star struck at this turn of events, as he walked over toward her, Toothless following directly behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...Valka's back! It was one thing I did rather like and found as an interesting twist from the second film, so I had to make sure to include her in here.


	10. Reconnecting

_There are some things that can’t be fixed merely by putting it past you. Throughout life you’re confronted by situations that require sitting down and talking it out. I never thought that one of those would be sitting in the ice nest relaying the story of my life to my mother, or hers to me, but nevertheless that’s what happened._

_~Hiccup_

Thorn glided down to the edge of the cove and warbled in curiosity and concern. Astrid slid off and patted the Nadder on the neck. “It’s alright,” she reassured, “I just need to go find Hawken, girl. I’ll be back soon, hopefully.”

She turned and slipped through the portal, getting a little disoriented when she found the sun setting lower than it did back at home (after all, Berk was at much higher latitudes) before she shook off the odd feeling that had become somewhat commonplace and headed for the house.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!!

Hawken did not answer the door right away as Astrid hoped, and instead the only sound she was greeted by were the two dogs barking inside, spilling out the dog door to see who the trespasser was. When they found only Astrid, they calmed down.

“Hi Panda, hi Barney,” Astrid greeted, smiling a little at the two canines’ innocent reactions. “Hawken home?” The only answer she got was Panda whining squeakily and wiggling to try and get attention. Astrid groaned, knowing she wouldn’t actually get an answer from the heeler, and slumped into one of the deck chairs, absentmindedly petting the dog as she waited.

When Hawken (or anyone else in his family, for that matter) failed to appear for over a half hour, Astrid decided she’d had enough. Standing up and pulling out a piece of parchment from her pocket (a habit she’d picked up from Hiccup), she scribbled out a note and stuck it into the crack of the door before heading back through the portal. If Hawken wasn’t there, she could at least warn Stoick, even if it was too late for anything but a Night Fury to reach the island Hiccup was taken to. Astrid huffed in worry; tonight was going to be a long one.

* * *

I didn’t find the note that Astrid had left until the next day after I’d gotten off of work. The night before I had visited my family, as they were out camping in the grasslands, and I’d gotten home at nearly ten o’ clock. Then, immediately the next morning I went straight to work, not even glancing out the back door.

Around noon I finally returned home, and spotted the paper fluttering in the breeze in the door. As soon as I saw it, a sinking feeling settled in me. I immediately slid open the pane and grabbed the paper, reading over the rough handwriting.

_Hawken, when you get this come immediately to the chief’s house. Hiccup was taken by the rider on the Stormcutter and we will certainly need your help. ~Astrid_

My heart seemed to both stop and speed up at the same time. That note could have meant one of two things: A, the movie was true, and Hiccup’s joke two days before had actually occurred (we would come to laugh about the irony later, but at that moment it wasn’t funny at all), or B, we already had a major fight coming. After making sure the dogs had both food and water (my family wouldn’t be back until late that evening), I bolted out the back door, changing to Wind Fury and soaring right through the portal.

The second I landed in front of Stoick’s house, said chief and Astrid both came bursting out the front door. “Where have ye been?!” Stoick yelled.

“I have a life of my own back home that requires tending to as well,” I retorted. “If you’re going to lecture me on the issue of time right now, save it. We both know that there are two main ways this could end, so I need to keep a low profile and I only want one person to go with me.” I turned to the side and knelt down, looking straight at the chief. “Stoick, I think you should come.” He nodded, and immediately moved to climb on.

“And what about me, or the rest of the gang?” Astrid asked warningly. “Keep an eye out for danger until we get back,” Stoick ordered. I nodded in agreement and then looked up at my new rider. “I suggest you hold on tight,” I warned. Stoick sighed. “Yes, I know, but I want to AAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Stoick didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence as I launched up and curved northward. He was leaning back for a moment, forced back by the pressure of the wind the takeoff had generated, before I felt his arms wrap around my neck. Tightly.

“Ack! Stoick, can’t breathe!” I gasped. “If I loosen up any I’ll fall at this speed!” came his anxious reply. I slowed down slightly in response, and Stoick loosened his death grip enough that I could take in air once more.

“I know we need to get there fast, as he’s been gone for three quarters of a day already, but it won’t do us any good if I don’t make it there alive,” Stoick grumbled. I nodded. “Sorry, I know. Just not used to riders.” “I figured.”

I was still going faster than your average Night Fury as we traveled however, and within an hour the island appeared ahead, and within it the massive bay bearing a large, ice coated peninsula that jutted into the center. I veered toward the unnatural construction and, after taking a quick once-over to ensure nothing had seen our approach or heard us (at the speed I was going, the air whistled all the way up to our final approach), I spotted a small opening in the ice where it met the rock, and landed just inside the entrance.

Stoick stepped off and grabbed his sword, but I swung my tail forward and blocked him. “Look, I know what you’re thinking,” I placated, seeing him readying a snappy protest, “but they won’t suspect another dragon in there to be anything odd, especially if no one can see me.” I glanced around at our landing site. “And, no offense, but I can move a lot faster than you. I’ll go in, see if I can find Hiccup and Toothless, and then either bring the both of them out or lead you to them, okay?”

Stoick frowned, mulling it over before nodding and reluctantly sheathing his sword. “You make a good point,” he admitted. “I will stay here and keep watch then, in case they come out somewhere else.” I nodded, and focused back on the entrance leading deeper into the mountain. A quick morph to Shadow, and I melted away. If there was one thing I was good at, it was hiding from view even in plain sight and observing unseen, and if there was one thing Stoick was good at, it was being ready for threats, or watching for his son (ironically once one and the same).

* * *

“So, I can’t believe I haven’t yet asked, but, how did you two come to find each other?”

Hiccup had ended up spending nearly an entire day straight with his mother, and already they were beginning to mend the bond that had never gotten the chance to form. But up to that point, Valka had yet to learn much about Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless, or his other friends. Hiccup shrugged in response to the question, chuckling a bit as Toothless squirmed in delight when Valka gave him a scratch under the chin while looking the dragon over.

“It was a while ago,” he began, “almost four years ago actually. Toothless was shot down, and couldn’t fly, so I helped patch him up and, well, we earned each other’s trust over the years.” Valka smiled as she examined the scale pattern around Toothless’ eyes. “Well, I’m certainly not surprised ye two learned to like each other,” she mused. “The oculars here tell me he’s about your age actually, maybe a month or two difference.” She smiled wider as she thought about it. “Yes, he was born in late winter, like you were!” Toothless sat upright at that knowledge again and smiled widely, before bounding over to Hiccup. Valka frowned then as his wings and tail flexed, showing no scars.

“I have to ask, why was he not able to fly though?” she queried. “I don’t see any wing injuries, and those scars are usually life-long.”

Hiccup shrugged again awkwardly. “Well, uh, funny story actually. I was, uh, actually the one who shot him down, and he lost a tailfin.” He turned and grabbed Toothless by the mouth playfully, grinning. “But, it’s all good, he got me back when we took down the monster that was causing the war, didn’t you bud? Took my foot, so we were even!”

The proclamation made Toothless freeze and looked up at Hiccup, surprised and shameful. <I…I thought we were sticking to the story about, you know,> he rumbled anxiously. Hiccup only shook it off and gestured to his foot, and then Toothless’ tail. “Well, doesn’t really matter at this point anymore, now does it?” he asked. “Besides, we don’t hold each other accountable anyway.” Hiccup chuckled and playfully pushed Toothless away as the dragon tried to lick him, before glancing back at his mother. Unsurprisingly, she still had a look of pure confusion, and Hiccup realized very quickly why his story wasn’t connecting for her.

“But, his tail is fine, and last I knew those don’t grow back,” she pointed out, moving closer and picking up Hiccup’s foot (Toothless came up behind the boy as he stumbled and lost his balance). “And last I checked we don’t regrow body parts either.” Behind her, Cloudjumper looked up, his curiosity sparked as well. <This ought to be an interesting explanation,> he mused. Hiccup sent him a glare, before he spoke.

“Yeah, about that. You recall I mentioned that odd friend earlier, right?” Valka nodded. “The one not from the village? Or the archipelago for that matter?” Hiccup nodded in affirmation. “Yeah, that one. He’s got some…interesting talents now, one of them being healing of sorts. There was an incident back early last year, and while fixing that he inadvertently gave Toothless and I our appendages back.” He chuckled at the memory. “Took a lot out of him; he was unconscious for three days afterward while Toothless and I got used to ourselves again.”

Valka’s expression remained shocked and slightly unbelieving, and Hiccup chuckled sheepishly. “Okay, so it’s a lot to take in, just that alone, but I’ll admit it only gets weirder from there. I’ve been expecting him to show up here, actually, and it’d be easier to have a demonstration than explain, but…” he trailed off and looked around, trying to figure out how to word it. Finally, his eyes fell on Toothless and he sighed.

“He can turn into basically any dragon,” he blurted, watching as the expected look of shock and disbelief grew stronger on his mother’s face. “That’s really the most simple way to put it. He said that because of that he had access to powers, like the healing, and other various things. Actually, he’s also the reason you’ve probably noticed me talking with Toothless and some of the other dragons here, as he let me understand them.” Hiccup looked to Toothless again, who narrowed his eyes, at what he knew was coming; he liked his secrets, but Hiccup was persistent. “And Toothless, well, our friend made it so he can communicate with us too, not too long ago.”

He looked at Valka, expecting her to react like he was going insane. Instead, her eyes lit up as recognition crossed through her mind. “Oh, I understand now, I think!” she exclaimed, getting up. “Years ago I met a dragon that could do something like that, but in reverse.” She took her staff and drew out a figure in the dust, a dragon with four wings and four legs. “Called herself the…uh…oh, what was her name?”

“The Mystique?” Toothless interjected. Valka started at hearing him actually talk like she did, but nodded. “Yes, yes that was it. So your friend can do something like that?”

Hiccup scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly as he leaned back against Toothless. “Actually, he got the gift from the Mystique,” he explained. “She made him the new bearer of that particular skill”-

Hiccup’s words were cut off as the air surrounding them suddenly seemed to darken. He glanced up, expecting some sort of large dragon to be hovering over them, but found light to still be pouring down through the greenish ice like normal, nothing blocking the way. Instead, the ledge they stood on seemed like it had simply been cast into deep shadows. Toothless and Cloudjumper noticed too, but while the Stormcutter growled in concern and got up to stand protectively over Valka, who grabbed her staff and aimed it away from her defensively, Toothless just smirked and stayed sitting calmly next to Hiccup; both of them knew there was only one thing that could cause this.

“Are you seeing the same thing I am?” Valka questioned. When Hiccup nodded she asked, “And you’re not concerned? What on earth is this?” “Actually, I think that friend I was talking about may have just found us,” Hiccup drawled nonchalantly. Valka only shot him a perplexed stare, before her attention shifted back toward the cave opening on the ledge as a black… _something_ began to flow out of the cracks in the stone, coalescing into a smoke-like cloud before taking the shape of one of the most intimidating dragons the woman had ever seen.

Hiccup stood up straight and walked calmly over toward the dragon and smiled, all the while Valka protested for him to stay back. “Took you an entire day to get your butt over here?” he quipped. Valka blinked in shock as the dragon shrugged, and then began to seemingly melt, wings and tail folding up and disappearing as the body morphed to leave…nothing more than a boy that looked not too terribly different from her son!

“Well, you know I do have a life back home as well,” the boy said, punching Hiccup jokingly before he turned and locked eyes with Valka. “And it looks like things worked out pretty okay considering what I was expecting, anyway.” He smiled warmly and walked forward.

“Hello Valka,” the boy greeted, extending a hand in welcome. “In case Hiccup hasn’t filled you in already, my name is Hawken. I am so very glad to finally meet his mother at last!”


	11. Family Reunited

* * *

It didn’t take very long at all to locate the pair I was seeking, and much to my delight, the better of my two suspicions was confirmed: standing not twenty feet away was Valka, with Cloudjumper growling defensively behind her as I darkened the ledge they stood on.

“Are you seeing the same thing I am?” Valka asked her son, and Hiccup only nodded, having already put the pieces together. “And you’re not concerned?” Valka continued. “What on earth is this?” Hiccup smirked. “Actually, I think that friend I was talking about may have just found us,” he replied. Valka turned to ask for clarity, but as I began to materialize, she immediately turned the other direction, focusing on me again, eyes narrowing both in worry and in disbelief as I coalesced once more. Once fully reformed, I glanced at Hiccup, who stood up and headed toward me. Off to the side Valka began to protest, but silenced as Hiccup not only showed no concern but began to address me.

“Took you an entire day to get your butt over here?” he remarked, somewhat tiredly but clearly not as put out as his tone suggested. I only shrugged and began to demorph. “Well, you do know I have a life back home as well,” I quipped back, playfully punching him in the shoulder, before turning my eyes to Valka. The poor woman looked completely shell-shocked now, and even Cloudjumper was frozen wide-eyed. I grinned. “And it looks like things worked out pretty okay considering what I was expecting, anyway,” I said, stepping toward Valka and extending a hand in greeting. “Hello Valka. In case Hiccup hasn’t filled you in already, my name is Hawken. I am so very glad to finally meet his mother at last!”

Valka only continued to give me an expression of great confusion, gingerly taking my hand to shake it. “Um…hello. I don’t believe I know you; how do you know my name?” she asked.

“Uh, Hawken here knows a lot about, eh, many things,” Hiccup stuttered. “He’s not exactly from around here, remember?” “Oh?” Valka queried. “And where exactly do you come from? Hiccup never answered that.”

I smirked. “Another world, of sorts, much like this one but centuries further ahead in technology. I’ve been a friend of your son for a few years now.” Valka nodded, before letting out a tired sigh.

“I’m very sorry, but this is really a lot to take in all at once,” she apologized, leaning back against Cloudjumper. “I just found my son again, alive, after nearly nineteen years, and discovered that he supposedly ended the Viking-Dragon war that drove me from my home, and now you inform me he’s friends with someone from another world who somehow has the Mystique’s power; have I summed it all here?” She rubbed her head. “Oh, all I wanted was to find out if I could trust the Night Fury rider or not, and now all this is dragged into my life.”

She smiled meekly and chuckled. “I guess things never really go as you expect. Don’t get me wrong, please, it is absolutely wonderful to come to see you again, Hiccup, but it’s a lot.”

Hiccup grinned. “Well, I can’t expect you to get used to this in a day. After all, it’s taken me two years already to cope with this guy.” He gestured to me. “Still can’t most days.” I laughed and pushed him playfully into Toothless, before looking at Valka again.

“I can assure you, Valka, that it gets easier with time, especially if you don’t think about it too hard,” I reassured. “And, I think I might just have something else that can make this a little easier to bear.”

I spun around, inciting a warning from Cloudjumper at the sudden move, and morphed Night Fury as I slipped through the cave opening once more. “Just stay there,” I called. “I have someone else who will really need to talk to you.”

* * *

Valka looked at Hiccup exhaustedly as the boy-turned-Night Fury disappeared again. “Is…is he always this cryptic?” she asked. Hiccup snorted. “Oh, this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg,” he replied, Toothless nodding in agreement next to him. “Don’t worry, he’s great to have around. But he does take some time getting used to.” He glanced at his mother. “Not unlike the two of us, actually,” he drawled, rubbing Toothless’ head. Valka chuckled. “Yes, I guess that’s very true.”

* * *

Stoick was waiting outside where I’d left him, and as I popped my head out of the cave, he stood up immediately and turned to face me. “Did ye find them?” he asked hurriedly. “Are they okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, they’re here and they’re both fine,” I replied. Stoick visibly relaxed. “Oh thank goodness. Why didn’t ye bring them out here then?” I turned and gestured my head toward the cave. “Because there’s something we want to show you. Follow me.” I disappeared into the dark again, and heard Stoick protest at my leaving him behind for a minute, before groaning in exasperation and following me in.

I stopped just before the exit out onto the ledge, and waited for Stoick to catch up. He did, with a major frown on his face. “So where are they then?” he griped. I nodded toward the exit, where I could faintly hear Hiccup and Valka talking again on the other side of the wall. “I think you should go first,” I explained. Stoick didn’t hesitate for even a moment, and hurried past me, while I quietly followed up behind.

He spotted Hiccup first, unsurprising as the boy and his dragon sat in the middle of the ledge, and rushed over to him. “Hiccup! Praise be, you’re alright!” he exclaimed, grabbing his son in a bear hug.

“Yeah, good to…ack!...see you too Dad,” Hiccup gasped in reply. Stoick realized what he was doing and carefully released his son, who took in a deep breath and held his sides, Toothless laughing at the reaction behind both of them. “But, uh,” Hiccup started as he caught his breath, “there’s something we need to talk about. And no, it can’t wait until we get back home.”

Stoick eyed his son oddly, and I saw the sliver of hope etch its way onto his expression, before it disappeared under the guise of his supposed reality. “Well, then, what is it?” he asked.

Hiccup gestured slightly behind his father, who turned abruptly, his hand on his sword in case of a threat. When he saw who stood there instead, however, both his hands dropped, and his eyes went wide in a whirlwind of emotions.

Valka stood by the sheet of ice that coated one side of the ledge, Cloudjumper hanging above her protectively, looking fearful, guilty, but steadfast at the same time. “So…so it was true?” Stoick whispered. “Val?” He said it slowly, quietly, as if speaking her name out loud would make the apparition disappear. He took a step forward, while Hiccup and Toothless backed up toward me to give the two of them more room and a semblance of privacy.

“I…I know what you’re going to say, Stoick,” Valka stammered, lips trembling. “Why-why didn’t I come home, after all these years? Why did I leave you?” She gestured weakly with her hands. “I never saw anything that told me anyone would change, not in all those years. You have to understand that I didn’t think I would be safe there, not after I discovered the truth of what I believed all that time. I thought you and our son would be better off without me in the way.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “And…and I was wrong, I see that now, but,” she stammered again, and when Stoick simply continued to slowly move forward, a tear escaped Valka’s eye and she spread her arms out wide in a gesture of pleading and frustration.

“You’re not even hearing what I’m saying now, are you!” she exclaimed. “If you would just give me something, please! Yell, shout, be angry at me, _say_ something!! Stoick, stop being so…so…so stoic!” She looked away for a moment, and looked back up to find her husband right there, a hand reaching up to carefully cup the side of her face. I could see from the angle where I stood, a tear run from Stoick’s eye now as well, the first I had seen since we had thought we would lose Hiccup those years ago.

Valka quieted, not knowing what was coming next as she looked up at him and waited for an answer. Her eyes trembled as much as her lips and hands did.

“You’re as beautiful as they day I thought I lost you,” Stoick whispered. That was all it took; Valka’s eyes released the moisture they held, tears spilling down he face as she hung her head, quiet sobs shaking her form. Stoick leaned forward and embraced her, and she hugged him back, hard.

“For so many years I yearned for a day like this,” Stoick said quietly again, “but I believed it impossible.” He sobbed, his hard outer shell that we all knew finally breaking in a way I had never seen in the man. “You’re actually here; Val, you’re here again!”

He slowly stepped back slightly, and tilted Valka’s face up with his fingers. She eyed him with an entirely new expression: a love they both had thought lost. There was still guilt there, in both their eyes, and sadness at the time they had missed, but the spark of joy had relit. Stoick leaned down slowly, and lifted up Valka’s to kiss her, long and hard.

I elbowed Hiccup slightly, and when he jerked in surprise, caught up in the moment, and looked at me, I nodded my head toward the cave. “We should give them some time alone,” I said quietly, leading him and Toothless out. Cloudjumper had the same idea, as he slowly backed up out of the picture and took off as quietly as he could into the air to give the reunited pair some time.

“You know what this means, right?” Hiccup spoke up as we moved out of earshot. I could hear the tone of his voice, and immediately recognized what he was thinking. I turned immediately and grabbed his shoulders before he could voice any more.

“It means that your dream has come true,” I implored sternly. “It means that you can piece your entire family back together again; mother, father, and Toothless. You have all the people you need in your life once more.” I looked at Toothless, and continued. “Let me repeat that: you have your mother, you have your father, you have your battle-brother Toothless, and you have all of your closest friends. I know we have something ahead of us, but nothing else you saw has, or needs to, become truth.”

“Except that there is in fact a Bewilderbeast here,” Hiccup interjected. I sighed and clonked him over the head. “I said focus on the positive. That only means we may have another friend on our side. Look, focus on your family for now, enjoy what you have. I know Toothless can see it; look at him!”

Hiccup turned to see the Night Fury staring straight at him, eyes wide and a genuine smile on his face. <It’ll be okay,> the dragon reassured, nudging his rider. <Like I told you before, you know what’s right.>

Hiccup sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, before smiling and scratching Toothless’ forehead. “Yeah, you’re both right,” he admitted. “Geez, I have my head screwed on so crooked right now.” He laughed and put an arm around my shoulder, doing the same over Toothless’ head. “And that’s why I need you two still. To keep my head on straight.”

I snickered. “Yeah, we know. You’re still the same dork you were four years ago, just taller.” “Hey!”

* * *

Several hours later, we found ourselves all in the makeshift “kitchen” that Valka had set up over the years, as she and Stoick attempted to make an early dinner (slightly smoked fish, with some ill-chosen spices; apparently, Hiccup’s ability to cook did not come from either of his parents). I accepted the food on the makeshift plates, but I will also admit that when the two adults weren’t looking I tossed the pieces to Toothless and grabbed the untouched fillets, hand-roasting them (literally) and sharing with Hiccup. While I may have garnered more of a taste for fish over the years, I had not acquired a full dragon’s ability to eat raw ones, or ill-flavored fish, thank goodness.

I glanced up at Cloudjumper for a moment, who seemed to find some mild amusement in teasing Toothless, before focusing again on Stoick and Valka. The atmosphere was relaxed, light, and I knew something was going to take place for the better soon.

Both the adults were chattering away about random things, Stoick filling Valka in on the improvements that had occurred in the village (and much to Hiccup’s embarrassment he was elaborating on all that their son had done over the years as well), and genuine smiles graced their features. Stoick was readying to ask Valka something, I could see it in his expression, the look in his eyes building up to some wanted moment.

Sure enough, when they had finally put away the fish and Valka’s makeshift plates, Valka took a water jug over to where a natural waterfall came off the ice above, and Stoick wrung his hands for a moment, admiring her in the light, before slowly walking up behind her and placing one of his hands on hers.

“Do you still remember our song, Val?” Stoick asked quietly. Valka sucked in a sudden breath at the words, and she looked away, a shameful face worn. Stoick paid no heed, and instead slowly began to whistle a tune we had all become recently familiar with, one I had come to know only a day before and that I could see Hiccup had grown up around, by the look on his face. Hiccup began to slowly whistle along with as well, filling the background as Stoick gently pulled the jug from Valka’s hands and followed her as she turned and stared absently out into the nest. Then, he began to sing the words, and I watched Valka break, tears falling as the memories rushed to her again.

“I’ll swim, and sail, on savage seas, with ne’er a fear of drowning,” Stoick began softly, Hiccup following him in low whistles, “and gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me.” He stepped forward and clasped Valka’s shoulders lovingly, his smile growing still. “No scorching sun, nor freezing cold, will stop me on my journey, if you will promise…me, your heart….and, love…”

Stoick trailed off, waiting, hoping, but for several moments Valka made no move to join in with him as he’d hoped. She instead stood, motionless, looking downward with her eyes closed tightly.

Hiccup stopped whistling and looked at me, great concern in his eyes as the tension built around us again. Stoick finally let out a slow, defeated sigh and began to turn away, tears for a different reason welling in his eyes.

“And love me for eternityyyy,” Valka began, the flow of her voice brightening the room again and breaking the tension once more. She looked up, taking a shuddering breath, and smiled, turning to Stoick and grabbing his hand close. The air seemed to begin to glow with joy again as the two began to slowly dance around each other, Hiccup beginning to whistle again as I reached up and plucked at the air, making it vibrate with energy and release the sounds of musical notes.

“My dearest one, my darling dear,” Valka sang again, smile brightening, “your mighty words astound me! But I’ve no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me!” They both laughed at the teasing joke in the song and swung each other in circles. The air continued to grow lighter and lighter, and even Toothless and Cloudjumper began thumping their tails in time to my and Hiccup’s music. Stoick’s voice rose up again in reply to Valka’s line.

“But I will bring you rings of gold, and even sing you poetry!” “Oh would ye!” Valka laughed, but Stoick only kept going. “And I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me!”

“I have no use for rings of gold!” Valka returned, laughing as Stoick lifted her off her feet. “I care not for your poetry! I only want your hand to hold”- “I only want you near me!” Stoick finished. Then they both sang together, voices blending perfectly.

“To love and kiss, to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming! Though all my sorrows and all nights I’ll keep your love beside me! I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne’er a fear of drowning, and gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry meeeeeeee!”

The last line drew out before we finally all stopped, breaking down in laughter at the joyful moment, each of us in tears as Stoick and Valka embraced again, and I laughed all the harder as Stoick suddenly reached out and dragged Hiccup into their arms as well.

I stood back, capturing in memory the family moment that all of them had been missing for nineteen years, completed as Toothless stuck his nose over Hiccup’s shoulder and licked him across the cheek, while Cloudjumper stood grinning over Valka.

“I thought once that I would have to die to hear you sing that song again,” Stoick breathed. Valka only shook her head. “No need for drastic measures,” she laughed, and they both sighed.

“Oh Val,” Stoick began again, “we finally have our family together again!” He finally released Hiccup from his hold as he took both of Valka’s hands, kneeling down in front of her. “Valka, would you…would you do me the great honor, of being my wife once more? Will you come back home with us?” Valka smiled immensely at the words, and for a moment couldn’t form her own to reply with.

Finally, Toothless just snorted and got behind her, nudging Valka into Stoick again. She laughed at his action and rubbed the Night Fury’s chin. “Yes,” she finally blurted, chuckling slightly. “Yes, Stoick, yes I will.” She looked over at Hiccup. “I’ve missed far too much of both of your lives to turn away again.”

“Great!” Hiccup piped up. “I’ll do the cooking.” There was a moment of awkward silence before they all burst out laughing. “Indeed ye shall!” Stoick chuckled. “We can go at any time, and of course Valka, we can return here if you wish whenever ye need to, or the dragons here may come te”-

His words were interrupted as a loud roar sounded from within the nest. Hiccup and I both started, the two of us seeing images of the worst, before we both recognized at least one word within the call.

<Stoick?!>

My eyes widened. “Oh my…can it really be?” I started to say, but before anyone could reply my question was already answered.

Upon the ledge outside the “kitchen,” a large dragon landed. Deep blue with white spots, decorating a wide, flat body and a long tail; there was no mistaking who this dragon was. Hiccup and Stoick’s eyes both widened in recognition, and I watched new smiles grow across their faces. Valka noticed too, and looked up at her husband. “Someone ye know?” she queried. Stoick nodding, before laughing and running up to the Thunderdrum.

“Thornado, is that really you?” he exclaimed, holding out his hands in greeting. Thornado nodded vigorously and pressed his snout into Stoick in greeting, the gesture nearly knocking his companion over.

<What on earth are you doing up here?!> the dragon gurgled. <Apologies for not visiting in so long, the young ones only just left me recently.> “He says the three little ones we found that he was caring for only just grew up,” Toothless translated for Stoick, before walking up and nodding to Thornado in greeting. <Good to see you, old friend.>

Thornado nodded in turn. <And you as well. You’re talking like the humans do now, that’s a new development,> he noted. Toothless only grinned.

Stoick chuckled again. “Oh, I know the feelin’. Kids are a handful.” He only giggled more when Hiccup protested nearby, before standing up from the kneeling position he’d taken in front of his dragon. “This is wonderful! Now we can truly return home as a family!” he exclaimed. “All three of us and our dragons. And,” he looked at me with a glint in his eye, “the battle-brother we couldn’t do without.”

I snorted. “Oh, come on, you can admit that I’m just another headache,” I retorted, grinning. We all laughed.

“Maybe so,” Valka replied, smirking herself, “but ye had a hand in bringing my family back together. For that, I think we can consider you part of this group as well.”

I blushed and smiled balefully, but luckily I didn’t have to try and worm my way out of that with an excuse, as Stoick smiled again and clapped his hands together. “Well now,” he began, “shall we see about heading homeward? I’m sure the village is quite worried about us at this point.” He squeezed Valka’s hand reassuringly. “And, they will all be overjoyed te find that you are still around with us, I’m sure.”

Valka only nodded. “Let me just say goodbye to a few friends around here,” she said, “and then, we can return home.”

* * *

Not long afterward, we were off and in the air again, Hiccup and Toothless sailing near Cloudjumper so that they could both continue talking to Valka, and Stoick following close behind simply content to take in the sight before him. I stayed above the group, keeping an eye out and sort of leaving myself out of the group, but I didn’t care. This was their big moment after all, their time for bonding again, and I could only be glad for them. Though they did eventually drag me into the conversation as Hiccup and Toothless began to regale Valka over our recent adventures, and I was forced to correct some (clearly intentional) exaggerations on the dragon’s part.

Time flies when your world is set straight again, even if only for a short, personal time, but Berk quickly loomed before us nevertheless. We didn’t quite make it to the village, though, before the first Viking from the island noticed us.

“Hiccup!” we heard from above us as we came in around the sea stacks. Said teen looked up just in time to find Astrid landing lightly behind him on Toothless’ back, Thorn floating just above the trio. Astrid, unsurprisingly, wound up and punched Hiccup in the side. Hard.

“Augh!! God, Astrid, why would you do that?!” he complained as he doubled over, clutching his ribs.

“That’s for disappearing for over a day and worrying the daylights out of everyone here!” Astrid snapped back. Hiccup groaned. “Well, it’s not like it’s my fault! I mean come on, I was mmmffff!!”

Hiccup was cut off as Astrid smothered him with a kiss. Eventually he relaxed and embraced her, kissing back, before they parted in embarrassment at the sound of Toothless chuckling beneath them.

“That…that was for coming back safely,” Astrid said softly, before looking over at Valka and Cloudjumper. “And you actually managed to find you mother?”

“Well, more like she found me,” Hiccup corrected. Cloudjumper tilted his wings and flew nearer, and Valka skirted over along his wing. “Mind introducing me, Hiccup?” she asked knowingly, her smile reflecting her tone.

Hiccup blushed and fidgeted for a moment. “Well, uh, Astrid, this is my mom, Valka, and mom this is, uh, Astrid, my…girlfriend, I guess.” His face grew redder with every word out of his mouth, but Valka just smiled and nodded to Astrid.

“Pleased to meet you,” she said, “though sadly this tells me I’ve missed out on more than I realize.” Astrid nodded, a slight smile on her face as well. “Nice to meet you as Mrs….uh, Mrs. Haddock.” “No, please, call me Valka,” the older responded.

We landed in the village square shortly after, and as the residents gathered around, Stoick stepped off of Thornado and took his wife’s hand, helping her to the ground as well (not that she really needed the help). “Everyone, tonight there is to be a celebration!” he announced loudly. “For today, my family is reunited once again! My dragon Thornado has returned to us and, against all odds, I have found my wife, Valka Haddock, here again alive and well!”

A wave of shocked gasps ran through the crowd, followed by a moment of silence. Then, a massive cheer erupted throughout our audience. They collectively rushed forward and surrounded the couple, excited chatter drowning out any chance at proper conversation.

* * *

There was indeed a celebration that night. The Great Hall was packed as music played, and the chief and his wife danced together there for the first time in nearly two decades. Much mead was consumed, and though Hiccup and I managed to keep the gang from going under the influence, there was still an obscene level of alcohol-related entertainment to be had that night. Stoick and Valka’s song was sung again, however this time around we were not spared from the pain of listening to Gobber join in (the ending stretch of “I’m still goiiiiinnnnnnggggg I’m done” would ring in my head for days).

It was wonderful overall however. For one night, everything was perfect. Joy was felt by all participants, human and dragon alike, and for that one night, everything seemed to settle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the film, Valka, Hiccup, and Stoick all had maybe half a day of being all together. Here, I decided there needed to be at least a little more...


	12. Big Problems

“So, uh, what exactly are we supposed to be doing out here again?” “Oh my g-Snotlout, do I really have to explain all this to you _again_?” “Well, um….wait, is that supposed to be a trick question, Hiccup?”

Hiccup groaned as he turned around in his saddle, already going red in the face from the ludicrous situation he was faced with. A couple days had passed since the fiasco at the ice nest, and we all knew that we couldn’t put if off any longer: the whole team was making our way toward the famed “Dragon Island” to see what we actually were up against.

And, naturally, Snotlout was still, well, being himself, something we couldn’t quite afford at that particular moment.

“Look,” Hiccup snapped, “you and the twins are supposed to stay along the outskirts of the sea stacks and watch for any incoming danger. We will not be able to see outside the maze from where we’ll be so it’s up to you to stay alert, for once. Fishlegs and Ember will patrol inside the sea stacks themselves, and Astrid, Camicazi and Thuggory will scout out the coast of the island while Hawken and I check out what’s happening inside.”

“Oh, so you just want me and the two nuts to stay out of trouble, is that it?” Snotlout asked almost accusingly. “No danger, nothing to fight?” “Would you rather be the one running the risk of having your dragon turn on you and eat you?” Astrid growled in warning, bringing up the one thought none of the rest of us actually wanted to voice. Snotlout opened his mouth again to protest, but then either decided to be wise or simply didn’t have a trump argument, so he stayed quiet.

We reached the edge of the sea stacks after only a half hour of flying, and much like in the first movie, they were shrouded with thick fog. Hiccup and I shared a glance; we had both visited the former nest on occasion in years prior, and the only time fog had been there then was when everything else was foggy as well. This was not a good sign.

As Snotlout and the twins split off and the rest of us headed in, Hiccup had Toothless glide over to me. “This place has been clear since the last Red Death was here,” he said, voicing the worry we both had. “I’m really starting to think the fog is correlated with those monsters.” I nodded. “I would bet so as well. Likely to keep unwanted guests like us out.” Hiccup smirked. “Yeah, but it takes a lot more than that to keep dragons from finding their way through.”

Fishlegs and Ember soon split off as well, Ember and Orhaganuz disappearing as the Shadowracer faded from visibility, and not long after that the peak of the massive volcano loomed into view ahead of us. As if adding to our suspicion, the air directly surrounding the mountain was completely clear of the fog.

“Okay guys,” Hiccup said quietly, only just loudly enough for all to hear, “remember to stay low on your dragons, and let them determine what actions need to be taken. If you see something of concern or interest, you know the signal. I expect us to be out of here in twenty minutes or less.”

We all nodded in agreement, and the other three flew off, practically hugging their dragons in order to remove their profile as best as possible. Hiccup glanced at me, and after both of us took in a deep breath, we turned toward the burning mountain. Hiccup had on his original scale armor (not the new Myscale one he was still working on), and blended in with Toothless’ own dark covering, and I stayed Night Fury as well to blend with the dark rocks and shadows around us. We dove into the mouth of a nearby cave, and immediately, I noticed something was off.

Inside, we found the main chamber, and on every ledge surrounding us I saw dragons. Some I recognized immediately, some I did not. But unlike what I had hoped they were not acting fearful at all, or really acting in any manner. They all just sat there, motionless, facing the center. Their eyes were blank, pupils slits, completely unaware of us as we glided up along the walls and found a nearly unoccupied ledge.

Down below, a billowing fog was pouring out of the deep pit, a hellish red glow emanating from the magma far below us. “Well, we know where the fog comes from,” Hiccup said quietly. “Though that makes it kind of hard to explain why the air around the mountain says clear.” “Same way I can bend physics, only the dark counterpart,” I muttered in return.

<Hey, guys, keep it down,> Toothless hissed. <I’ve got this buzzing feeling in the back of my head right now, and I don’t like it one->

<HUMANS?!>

That voice stopped us all dead in our tracks. We peered over the edge into the pit below, and after a couple moments all of us spotted the large, scaly, toothy snout rise up through the red-tinted mist. There was no mistaking it either: a thick horn on the snout, a trio of eyes on each side of the massive skull, and the warty, pebbly look to its skin.

<Yep, we’ve got another Red Death in here,> I whispered.

The head swung around to peer in our direction, trying to see into the gloom that its eyes were not designed for. <I smell humans,> the loud, growling voice boomed again, as the Death reached up a paw to climb slightly higher up into the cavern, trying to find us. Even as close as it came, though, its eyesight was poor, and we blended perfectly with the shadows we were shrouded in.

<If you are here you cannot hide forever,> the beast hissed tauntingly. <I find all who are in this fortress, and if you escape from me, then he most certainly will when you leave.>

Hiccup glanced at me, and the same thought clearly ran through both of our heads. _He?_

We didn’t get the time to ponder this chilling notion, however, before a loud squawk of terror echoed down the nearby tunnel, followed by a young woman’s scream and a deafening roar. The three of us immediately bolted to the exit, easily missing the massive pair of jaws that reached up for us as the Red Death spotted us flying by, before we disappeared into the dark once more.

Outside, a frightening sight unfolded before us. Astrid was attempting to pull herself back into her saddle as Thorn fidgeted nervously, glancing around wildly in fear.

“We found something alright!” Astrid yelled breathlessly when she spotted us exiting the volcano. “Or, more precisely, it found us!” She gestured down toward the beach below, where the evidence of an attack was all too clear.

Jutting up from the water below was a massive crystalline ice formation, shaded in a green I had only seen in person once before, and there was a thin layer of frost on Thorn’s tail, evidence of a near miss. Cami and Thuggory soon reappeared as well, breathless both of them.

“We need to leave, now,” Cami urged. “We don’t have enough people here to fight this.” “What was it?” Hiccup asked nervously.

“Bewilderbeast, Fishlegs would probably call it a Class Ten,” Astrid answered as we turned and hightailed it back into the fog-shrouded rock maze. “Well, that’s just fantastic,” Hiccup groaned. “We have two alpha dragons to deal with then because there is in fact another Red Death in the volcano too, and they’re apparently working together.” He looked at me. “Now that I think about it, too, that explains completely who _he_ is that it referred to.”

Silence took over for a moment as this sunk in. “So, that’s why all the other dragons are so far under control,” Thuggory mused. “Two alphas, working together; that means twice the control right?” “Then I’m glad that these guys still don’t appear to be affected yet,” Hiccup replied, patting Toothless on the neck. “We’re going to need a whole lot of firepower to end this.”

Outside the fog, we found Ember and Fishlegs waiting already with Snotlout and the twins. “There were ships anchored in amongst the sea stacks to the south,” Orha spoke up. “They didn’t look friendly, so despite the fact that we were unseen we didn’t attempt getting close.”

“Well, then now we know where the Bewilderbeast came from,” Hiccup quipped, looking at me. Ember and Astrid also immediately caught onto what he was referring to. “You think he’s the one who’s got the Red Death working for him too?” Ember asked. Hiccup shrugged. “Well, they were working together in there, so I fear so,” he replied.

“Can someone please inform us what you’re all blabbering about?” Ruffnut interjected. We quieted, before looking at her with sheepish expressions. “Uh, just a theory really,” Hiccup said quietly. “The movie we had watched involved a villain who commanded a Bewilderbeast; his name was Drago Bludvist. If those ships belong to him”- “And they were built similarly,” Ember added, “-or someone like him, we’re in bigger trouble than I thought. We need to get back to Berk and report this to my dad, now.”

* * *

Soon after we’d fully left the vicinity of the fog, Toothless and the other dragons reported that the buzzing they’d felt in the back of their heads had disappeared, which led us to believe that the sensation was almost certainly the residual effect of the two giants near the volcano, but it had never reached a point even close to overwhelming them at all, meaning we didn’t have to worry about our dragons losing control.

As soon as we landed in Berk, all of us headed more or less straight for the chief’s house, and Hiccup led the march up to the front door.

“Hey Dad?” he called as he opened the door. “We’ve got a prob- oh! Uh, hi, Mom,” he stuttered. Valka was sitting by the fireplace, dressed in an outfit more normal for the village than what we’d found her in (though normal is a relative term even then) and working on mending some sort of cloth. She looked up as we poked in and smiled.

“Hello Hiccup!” she greeted. “I was just mending a rip in this pair of pants here. Yer father’s not in here at the moment.” Hiccup blushed (probably because it one of his pairs of pants that she was mending), and cleared his throat. “Oh, okay, um…you-you don’t happen to know where he went, do you?” “Well, I heard there was a bit of a spat going on between Bucket and Mulch a little while ago down by the docks, so he may be there,” she offered. “Those two haven’t changed a bit since I’ve been gone, have they?” She chuckled a little bit at that.

Hiccup nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. We’ll go look there.” He turned to leave, but Valka called after him again.

“What was it ye found out there?” she asked. Hiccup stopped cold for a moment, before sighing and turning to her, his face becoming shadowed with concern. “There is in fact another Red Death on the island,” he explained. “And, on top of that, Astrid and Cami were attacked by a full-grown Bewilderbeast.”

“Another one?” Valka queried, eyes widening as she stood up, setting the pants and sowing needle on her chair. “They aren’t known to travel in regions near the territories of other Bewilderbeasts unless necessary. And they almost never venture near Dragon Island when they pass this way.”

“Well this one has,” Hiccup returned. “And it’s friends with the Red Death apparently. And to top it off, there are ships in the sea stacks just to the south of the island.”

This time, it was Valka’s eyes that darkened. “Drago,” she muttered, grabbing her staff and turning to exit the house. I stepped aside to let her pass and as the rest of the gang outside the door saw her look, they moved to give her plenty of space as Hiccup ran after her.

“Wait a minute!” he called. “Did you say Drago? You mean he actually exists?” he yelled. Valka whistled for Cloudjumper, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, and she leapt onto his back, the two of them heading for the docks. Hiccup groaned and hopped onto Toothless, the two of them and I following while the others chose to wait in the plaza.

When we managed to catch up to her, Valka barely spared a glance at us as she spoke. “The last time I confronted Drago, years ago, he’d found a very young Bewilderbeast,” she said. “That was sixteen years ago, and he escaped from me before I could rescue the poor thing. He has a lot of contacts in the wrong places, and if that’s him at the nest, then he has an ally somewhere and will waste no time in heading for Berk soon.”

I glanced at Hiccup, whose eyes had widened considerably at this news. There wasn’t any good to come from that.

We found Stoick, sure enough, still trying to settle some sort of dispute between the two infamous fishermen Bucket and Mulch. Clearly happy to have a distraction, he turned, smiling, to greet his wife as Cloudjumper landed, but that smile melted away as soon as he saw the look on her face. He also put two and two together when he saw Hiccup and I come in and land behind her, the same grim looks on our faces.

“Alright, what did ye find?” he asked cautiously. “A Red Death _and_ a Bewilderbeast,” Hiccup said, sliding off Toothless’ saddle. “And they said there were ships anchored nearby,” Valka added. “You and I both know about Drago’s young aspirations, and this sounds a lot like him.”

Stoick sighed, and glanced out over the bay, a frown of his own darkening the air now. “But would he really chance starting a war now that the tribes are allied once again?” he asked.

“If he has a powerful enough ally that he thinks he can win, or actually found a way to fulfill his plans, then I have no doubt he’d spring at the chance,” Valka replied. “He hates me for the trouble I caused him in those years, and I doubt he’s missed word of you surviving that fire so many years ago.”

Stoick stood for a moment, observing the horizon as if expecting the man to appear, before turning to Hiccup and Toothless. “Get your riders together, and prepare them for battle,” he ordered. “We need to end this now before he gathers the strength to make a move himself.” Hiccup nodded and climbed back into the saddle again, heading for the plaza once more. Stoick looked over at Valka next, and an expression of guilt addled his face.

“My dear, I truly hate to ask this, but I saw the Bewilderbeast at the nest you lived in,” he said slowly. “We could use every bit of help that we can, especially if he can be of any help in swaying the dragons away from the opposing alphas at all.”

Valka stayed silent for a moment, obviously her thoughts battling between risking someone she clearly called a friend, and knowing it could be necessary. Slowly, she nodded. “If I head out now, I may be able to call him down here within a day or two,” she said, and immediately turned to hook her staff on Cloudjumper’s spines, hoisting herself up as the dragon simultaneously took off. Stoick followed her flight to the north with a concerned expression, before setting his mind on the task once more and facing me, expression hardening again.

“Ye have the most power out of any of us,” he said, “and I’m not saying that te boost yer ego either. If we can level the playing field, take out at least one of the beasts, then we may stand a chance at getting Drago te drop this destructive idea once and for all.”

I nodded, but frowned anyway. “Unfortunately we don’t know who Drago’s ally may be, or how powerful they are, for him to risk preparing an attack not only from so close but at such and angle as to be at risk from several of the other tribes.” I looked to the east. “I know many of the emperors of the Middle East and Asia command great wealth and respect; if Drago has backing from one of them he could have the resources to fight us in a war of attrition, and we could wear out long before his resources do.” Stoick nodded. “I know. That’s why we can’t wait for him te make the first move.”

Grimly, I turned, and nodded my agreement before heading toward the forge as Stoick began to belt out instructions to those around him to prepare the village. Hiccup was already busy with the gang along with anyone else who rode the dragons, and he had only managed to more or less complete the Myscale armor designed for himself, and had the framework for Astrid’s set out. We had scales from all the teen’s dragons, save for Silverwings, and the other armor sets needed to be made still.

Everyone else had tasks to complete at that moment, even Gobber, but I had some time. Things were heading down a really dark path; I could feel it and see all the pieces falling together. It would be a cold day in hell before I let my friends ride into battle unprepared. This wouldn’t be a fight we would survive if they did.


	13. The Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Among my favorite poems written so far starting this off, would love to know if you agree...and, it's time for some real action to start up again.

_War is the harshest mistress_

_What little she gives she takes_

_And when nothing’s to take she takes more_

_The faith of the world_

_The trust of brothers_

_The hope of daylight at the end_

_When all is over her wards are hollow_

_Mere shells of once proud form_

Three days.

Three days of preparation before we felt sturdy enough to make our move. It would have been less, but another raid had hit the evening after me, Hiccup and the others had gone to observe the nest. Spitfire had not shown this time, making me fear all the more for the Changewing’s safety, but not having a near-invisible dragon to deal with certainly made it easier to focus on defending the village itself.

We had also sent out several of the resident Terrors to the Meathead and Bog Burglar tribes, letting them know what was afoot, but by the time we decided to leave for Dragon Island again they were not yet in a position to launch parties for aid. For this, we were on our own (save for Cami and Thuggory of course).

I had to work the morning everyone was headed out, of course, but as we were taking ships to act as bases for the injured dragons and riders, should we have any, and platforms for ground troops if necessary, it would take several hours for them to make the trip to the nest, and I could catch up in no time.

As soon as I left work, I sped home, grabbed a drink and a quick bite of food to ensure my strength was up, and bolted outside. Once at Berk, I morphed Wind Fury and took off to the southeast, the air screaming as I covered ground and trailed the ships. Very soon the fleet came into clear view, and the dragons and riders skirting the edges became visible.

I spotted Hiccup easily enough and arrowed toward him, flaring my wings to slow and hovering next to Toothless. Hiccup glanced at me, too worked up to keep his focus on any one point for long.

“Where are your weapons?” he asked, not seeing them in the straps I had kept them in for so long. I grinned in response. “Should I need them, you’ll find out,” I assured.

Hiccup only gave me a strange look, before focusing forward again. “Everyone has been assigned a position,” he then said. “Dragons will be covering the sea stacks as the ships get into position, and once we’re ready, you and I will go after the Red Death, with Astrid, Ember and Fishlegs as backup, while Cami, Thuggory, Snotlout and the twins will face the Bewilderbeast. Other riders will be our backup forces and will aid as distractions and protection of the ships from the dragons in thrall, and anyone on foot will be ready in case Drago’s fleet shows itself.”

I nodded, morphing Night Fury as the eerily motionless fog bank appeared ahead. “Oh, I’m sure he will show up,” I muttered, “and if he works with dragons he may well have eel-poisoned arrows and traps at the ready. We’ll need our full guard up around him.”

“Yeah, thanks for the optimistic outlook, Mr. Sunshine,” Astrid remarked nearby. We all quieted as we entered the fog itself, the dragons landing on the ships or rock-hopping across the sea stacks to stay low and out of view. Slowly, the line of vessels picked our way into and through the maze.

We were approaching directly from the north side of the island, where the sea stacks were thickest (due in no small part to the fact that it was missed in the fight so many years ago with the last Red Death), and we would attack only when everyone was in position and it appeared that we would have the greatest advantage of surprise on our side.

Slowly, quietly, we approached the volcano ahead. There was a stretch of open water between us and the shore, marred not by a single ripple, but we wouldn’t risk crossing it just yet. As quietly as possible, the ships lowered their anchors, and the dragons assumed their positions on the sea stacks surrounding the fleet. I stood by Toothless, rivulets of pale energy flowing across my scales as the anticipation that came with waiting built up.

Silence reigned over the scene. Not a ripple disturbed the water, not a sound came from the volcano, and not a sign appeared of any of the enemy ships. I glanced at Hiccup, who nodded; it was time to make our move. Toothless and I spread our wings, the rest of the dragons around us following suit. Carefully we crouched down, steadying ourselves before leaping upward, pumping our wings-

<AAAAHHHH!> Thorn screeched nearby, Fishlegs soon echoing the dragon and Astrid yelping in shock as the water below exploded, a blast of greenish white exploding upward and scattering the dragons and their riders, crystallizing in a grotesque mockery of an ice sculpture. I spun in the air and looked downward.

The Bewilderbeast had found us before we had located him, and he had quite thoroughly stolen our element of surprise. “MOVE!” I screamed, and the riders cleared the location, flying upward out of range and regrouping. I fired downward, shattering the ice structure in a violent explosion and sending sharp fragments hurtling toward its creator, before following Toothless toward the volcano. I could hear behind me the roars of battle begin echoing as the assigned teens began their re-oriented attack against the Bewilderbeast, leading him back to the open water and firing the first shots of war.

Hiccup and I signaled Astrid and Fishlegs to swing to the west, Ember to the east, and we headed up the flank of the mountain, dodging the enthralled dragons that came suddenly pouring out of the cracks and caves to attack. Hiccup pulled Framherja off his back and gripped the string, readying to fire the weapon, and I glanced up to see dark cumulonimbus clouds gathering above us. I grinned and said a silent thank you for one more advantage on our side.

My thoughts were jarred back to the present however when a shower of boulders came flying down from above as the Red Death erupted from the mouth of the volcano, turning and glaring down at us. His eyes all narrowed as he gained focus in the brighter light outside the mountain. <So the riders have returned,> he taunted, mouth opening and displaying rows of massive, stained teeth. <Come to meet an early end?>

<No, just here to deliver one,> I snapped back, a sneer of my own forming. Hiccup and I both fired simultaneously, Night Fury blast and electric bolt screaming forward. The larger reptile above recognized the danger and jerked to the side just in time as the two charges intersected and exploded, sending out a shockwave that sent a group of smaller dragons spinning. The behemoth flared his wings and took to the air, turning and firing a shot of his own. A wall of flame poured downward, engulfing everything in its path and sending roiling waves of hot air and flames in our direction.

The pair of Night Furies it was aimed at dodged more than easily however and now we had the Red Death’s attention completely focused on us. I gave a piercing whistle, and right on time, a sudden stream of bright bluish flames raced across the back of the Red Death’s neck, followed by a shower of black acid and finishing with a hail of spines as Orha and Thorn came in from behind. The monster screamed in pain, before whirling on its new adversaries only to find the same spot they had attacked now under fire by Hiccup, Toothless and I again. A triple shot, and a shattered, burning streak of scales marred the armor of the Red Death.

* * *

“He’s slow at turns, aim for the base of the neck and right under the arms when he surfaces!” Valka yelled, running almost in place as Cloudjumper barrel-rolled forward over the Bewilderbeast below. Cami nodded and directed Stormfly low to the water as Thuggory and Silverwings flared in front of the alpha, dragging his attention away from the mischievous pair. The Bewilderbeast surfaced again and fired toward Thuggory, only to be raked from below by Stormfly’s stream of fire, leaving a smoking trail in her wake. The Bewilderbeast bellowed and swung his tail forward, nearly clipping the pair as they circled around again, before Cloudjumper let loose a powerful jet of flames straight into the beast’s eyes and forcing him to submerge again.

Valka looked on with morbid confidence, hands clasped firmly around the new staff her son had crafted for her. Alike her old one in so many ways, she couldn’t help but marvel at the metal Hiccup had used. Incredibly strong, and yet so impossibly lightweight, it felt like a feather twirled between her fingers as she spun it in preparation. The staff was the key, the signal to unleashing their own secret weapon, but only at the right time. Until then, Valka bided her time, her and the other riders drawing the Bewilderbeast below them toward the island slowly but surely and tiring him out. It would take a long time; this was a young dragon with a great deal of strength in his actions.

Cloudjumper swerved to avoid another stream of ice as the alpha turned on him, and again he dodged as an enthralled Nightmare came in fast and released a stream of liquid flames. Once out of danger he righted himself and called over his shoulder to gain Valka’s attention, nodding toward the southern shore of the island. Valka’s gaze followed, and her breath hitched in her throat; the enemy ships were beginning to show themselves, sliding out of the mist and anchoring along the beaches. Already men armed to the teeth were beginning to leap from the vessels and swarm their way.

Valka swung her staff and pointed toward Stoick’s ship, Cloudjumper roaring in affirmation and turning immediately. Valka needed to warn her husband immediately, and as she glanced behind her to see the Bewilderbeast place his first foot on the shore of the island, she raised her staff high, signaling their new ally.

* * *

Trying to fight against a swarm of small, incredibly fast dragons is difficult especially when they’ve been trained to work together, and even more so for a creature the size of an aircraft carrier. However, the Red Death was far from defenseless. Walls of searing flames prevented all but me from getting too close in our attacks, and even then the unpredictable air currents caused by the tongues of fire made flying through it a near-death wish even for me. The wild dragons under thrall continued as well to get in our way, forcing all of us to expend precious energy in fighting off the very creatures we were attempting to save. Every opportunity it had the Red Death took as well, turning in the air as Toothless and I shot down a pair of Timberjacks and swinging his tail upward, straight toward Fishlegs. The boy while sitting on Meatlug was nowhere near fast enough to get out of the way of the bludgeon, and he screamed as death seemed to become inevitable.

A spine on the edge of the tail caught both of them right in the middle, sending the pair spinning through the air, but they soon righted themselves, glancing around in shock that they were still alive. Fishlegs eventually figured it out, looking down at the armor he wore. “I didn’t even feel it,” he muttered, before giggling and raising his arms up. “I’m okay!”

A shot of Nadder fire raked past him seconds later, forcing Fishlegs to duck and turn Meatlug away immediately after. “Less okay! Ahhh!!”

I snorted as I let loose an electric charge, stunning the Timberjack I was up against and sending it to the ground as Hiccup fired Framherja at his and Toothless’ opponent, resulting in a similar effect. “Strike the point where the back of the neck meets with the head!” I yelled over to him. “If it’s like other dragons that should at least slow the monster down no matter the attack!” “Got it!” Hiccup yelled back, and he and Toothless flipped over and went racing behind the Red Death.

I glanced around in the momentary stall and spotted a wave of water surging upward from the sea stacks as the white Bewilderbeast Valka had enlisted made himself known. However, I also spotted the ships gathering at the other end of the isle. I backpedaled and dove toward the Red Death, firing at its eyes and distracting it while I located Ember, an easier thing to say than do when she and her ride kept blinking in and out of visibility.

I finally spotted her and Orha underneath the Red Death, flashing into and out of view as they took shots at unprotected soft spots along the monster’s belly. “Lead it upward, we have to stay out of range of the army!” I yelled as I glided up next to the pair.

“The army showed up?” Ember yelled back. I nodded, before dodging a Zippleback rocketing up after us, whipping out my tail and catching the dragon across its side, zapping it into unconsciousness before skirting upward and facing the Red Death head-on.

<Up here you ugly bag of blubber!> I taunted, catching his attention before firing a plasma bolt straight into the Death’s nostrils. He roared in anger and pain and snapped out, while I grinned and bolted upward, spiraling out of the way as a plume of flames rose up after me. I spotted Astrid and Ember circling it below, while Hiccup and Toothless lined up for a shot as they flew just behind the Death’s field of vision.

By chance I glanced downward at the island again, and my breath hitched at the scene.

* * *

Valka peeled away from the two Bewilderbeasts, assuming that they both would be busy for a while (especially if the ground-shaking collision behind her was anything to go by), and Cami and Thuggory at least were proving themselves competent without her direct advice; the others were more of a concern, but they were listening to the two heirs at least. She and Cloudjumper were soon joined in the air by Thornado and his rider.

“We both know Drago,” Stoick yelled over the wind. “Take him out somehow and we can end this.” “Yes, but first we need to destroy his machines!” Valka called back. “Until we do that, anything in the air will be in danger! And we still don’t know who he’s working with, or what other tricks he still has! You know he never shows everything all at once!”

Stoick nodded in agreement, before giving a cry of shock and ducking out of the way as a weighted net came spinning upward toward him. Cloudjumper roared and angled downward, four wings flaring as a whirlwind column of fire erupted from his mouth and incinerated the net throwing machine below. Then he, too, spun to the side as a series of bolas came flying upward after him.

Stoick grimaced in slow boiling anger, and began to scan the beaches below both for patterns in the setup as well as the man they were looking for. Suddenly he heard the sounds of crossbows firing, and spotted gleaming points flying toward him. “Move Thornado!” he bellowed to his dragon, who dropped suddenly and turned away, avoiding most of the projectiles.

Stoick, however, felt a sudden THUNK! as something embedded into the very edge of his shoulder guard. His eyes widened in great worry, as he was wearing the Mysteel armor Hiccup had made. It was painted to match his clothes, but there was still only one thing that could possibly even scratch the metal: other Mysteel.

He reached over and pulled out the arrow, his fears confirmed when he laid eyes on the weapon: a Mysteel arrowhead. “Jezebel,” he muttered, and immediately directed Thornado toward the speeding Stormcutter nearby.

“I hate to do this, but I need to find Hawken!” Stoick yelled once he was sure Valka could actually hear him. “Keep looking for Drago, I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

“What happened?” Valka called back to him, batting away a bola with her staff. “I know who he’s working with,” Stoick replied gravely, before turning toward the roiling flames that danced across the sky above them.

Valka grimaced, knowing even after all those years the look Stoick had plastered on his face, before leaning forward again and scanning the army. A chaotic scene of scrambling men and flying projectiles made it all the more difficult however, even though for once she could not spot any of the armored dragons Drago was famous for.

Finally, she spotted him making his way through the maze of war machines toward where the two Bewilderbeasts battled: a massive hulk of a man, draped in dark dragon skin and a dangerous sneer almost permanently plastered onto his face.

Valka turned Cloudjumper toward Drago, and once close enough she realized she recognized the skin that Drago wore over his shoulders, something he hadn’t had the last time she’d confronted him: it was none other than the unmistakable pelt of a Night Fury.

_We need to take him down before Hiccup ever finds him,_ Valka decided, knowing already how her son and his dragon would react. Cloudjumper sensed her motives and swooped down low, Valka leaping off seemingly right in Drago’s blind spot, and raised her staff to bring it down on his shoulders.

A sudden flash of movement and Valka found herself fending off a powerful swing as Drago turned casually to face her. “Well, well, if it isn’t the vigilante of the north,” he sneered. “What a pity this time not only will I get away, but you’ll not live to see it.”

Valka gave no reaction to the words but a deepening scowl, and she spun her staff once more, swiping for Drago’s legs followed by his neck, but even with the extra speed the light metal provided, she was blocked effortlessly both times by the bullhook Drago wielded.

“You have nothing on your side,” she spat. “We have powerful allies with abilities you could not imagine; you have no hope of winning.” Drago only grinned at the words. “Oh, yes. I already know who you fight alongside,” he taunted. “Something about a dragon boy and a Night Fury.” His fist came up, bullhook swinging to the sides as he aimed a punch which was easily dodged and blocked by Valka’s staff, before they both glanced up in surprise as a crackling explosion rocked the sky, and black flames erupted around them and began to tear apart the machines that surrounded the pair.

* * *

We led the Red Death up to just below the clouds, but could not get him to follow us further despite the aggravation we presented. He knew he lost an advantage in the dark mist above us, and wouldn’t be fooled by that like the last one had. Ember had gotten in a lucky shot with a Piffleworm arrow, embedding it between the scales of the Death’s haunches, and it had slowed down the beast slightly, but to take down a Red Death with venom we would have needed a small flock of Piffleworms. While I could produce a fair amount of the toxin myself, even that wouldn’t be enough to bring down this mammoth. On top of it all we were still continuously plagued by the enthralled dragons that the Red Death summoned to his aid.

I gritted my teeth and pulled upward, preparing to take another shot at the behemoth’s head, before a posse of new riders showed up and I spotted Stoick leading them and heading straight toward me. I broke off, knowing this meant an unpleasant development, and flew down to him.

“Do you recognize this?” he asked, holding up an unnervingly shiny arrow, tipped with a metal I now saw more in Ember and Hiccup’s hands than anywhere else. My breath hitched.

“He’s working with Jezebel?!” I screeched. Stoick nodded. “It appears so. You’re the only one who’s able te get close enough te take out the archers who are firing these, so we need your help before ground troops can get in to do anything!”

I glanced at the Red Death behind me, who was now thoroughly occupied with Ember, Hiccup, and the new friends that buzzed around his head. The Death would be busy for a while, so I decided that I could probably afford to leave the fight with the monster to them for now.

“Where’s Valka?” I called back to Stoick, focusing on him again. “Looking for Drago,” was his curt reply. My eyes narrowed. “Go find her then; I’ll be there in a minute to help.” Stoick nodded, and immediately spun Thornado around, taking off toward the battle below.

I let Hiccup know that I was taking on another role for the moment, and then rocketed into the clouds above as I morphed to Skrill.

Thunder rolled in the darkening clouds, and as I flared out my wings lightning flashed around me. I grinned and spread out the quills that lined by back and tail, and it wasn’t long before I felt the static build.

A bright flash, and I felt my skin dance with energy, the air superheating and a deafeningly loud CRACK! of thunder rolling through the air around me. Then, I tucked my wings in and dove toward the island again.

One lightning bolt can contain upwards of five billion volts of electricity, and while a Lightning Blazer can produce and control electricity, only a Skrill can actually contain that much power without immediately using it. I grinned as sparks danced across my scales, and let out a piercing scream as I aimed for the war machines and the archers below. Once close enough for an accurate shot, I opened my mouth and fired, the bolt leaping from my jaws to the metal in the hands of the archers, the high voltage immediately knocking them out and burning the bows until they were permanently useless, as the air exploded again with thunder. Three shots later, and every line of archers was down and the machines around them alit with flames. However, I was also out of lightning.

I was far from out of tricks of course and grinned again, diving to the ground as my scales turned black and I melted into the shadows beneath the still-standing soldiers and their machines. Then I unleashed jets of black fire in every direction.

Men screamed as catapults and javelin launchers began crumbling under the anthracite flames and tightened cords snapped, sending sharp spears and slivers of metal and wood in all directions. More soldiers screamed and ran whenever I rematerialized and showed my face, blazing red eyes and wickedly sharp teeth wreathed in black. Systematically I tore down one weapon after another, working my way through the ranks.

I soon spotted Thornado and Cloudjumper again, circling a spot on the ground, and headed in their direction. Not long after I came close enough to see Valka and Stoick both fighting against a hulking man draped in…

When I recognized the Night Fury skin that Drago bore, my blood boiled over and I rematerialized, unleashing flames in the direction of anyone stupid enough to try and take me on as I marched purposefully toward the three main fighters. Slowly, I morphed back to human, and Valka noticed me first, signaling me subtly to come in around the side.

I sidestepped a sword from another unintelligent soldier, taking barely a moment to slam him to the ground with a flick of my tail, and held my hand out to the side, curled as if I grasped a weapon.

Drago noticed me, unfortunately, and stepped out of range momentarily not only from my reach but also that of Stoick and Valka. “So you’re the one she warned me about,” he said, before cackling as he looked me up and down, seemingly unfazed as the air between my fingers crackled and glowed, a handle and gleaming blade growing out of the pulsing light; I’d manipulated the Lightning Blazer’s ability to convert energy and matter into a handy storage technique, and my weapons were stored that way now. “I see you have made short work of my soldiers, but no matter. Men and mere objects only get you so far; it is the dragons who have the true power here.”

“Only for those whom they are allied to, and know what they’re doing,” Valka hissed, swinging her staff toward Drago again. He blocked easily with his bullhook, spinning the tip and sending the staff flying to the side. The force knocked Valka off balance for a moment before Stoick caught her. I, meanwhile, growled and leapt forward, spinning the blade in my hand outward and then up, hoping to catch Drago’s own odd weapon and sling it from his hands. Drago instead pulled back, and slammed the tip of the hook outward, catching me off guard and hitting me in the stomach, hard enough to make me skid across the gravel.

Drago used the moment to gesture and draw our attentions to the Bewilderbeasts fighting off behind him. “Sooner or later one will win, and I don’t think your beast will last much longer,” he sneered. I glanced up at the words, and saw what he meant: the white Bewilderbeast that the other dragons referred to as the Northern King had held the upper hand in the fight to this point, but now I could see clearly that he was tiring. The dark one was younger, somewhat inexperienced but made up for it in stamina, and he was beginning to push the lighter colored alpha toward the side of the volcano.

I focused again on Drago, knowing it would do no good to distract myself with that battle at the moment. “If we end you, he’ll have no reason to fight anymore, now will he?” I mused, another sword forming in my right hand as I leapt forward again, blades whistling as I attacked, trying to disarm Drago or knock him unconscious. Stoick and Valka joined from the sides, as we began to push Drago toward the water’s edge.

Soldiers further away finally noticed their commander was in danger, and they rushed us from all sides, those who were managing to get past the few dragon riders who weren’t fighting the Red Death, and they slowed us down enough that Drago began to hold his own once more against the three of us.

Suddenly, something massive hit the ground, shaking the earth beneath our feet, and we all turned to see the Northern King knocked to the ground, unmoving and bearing massive gashes across his sides from his opponent’s tusks. Sensing his victory, the dark Bewilderbeast rose up on his hind legs and roared out his challenge.

“NO!!!” Valka screamed, throwing herself at Drago again only to be knocked forcefully back by a blow, hitting the rocks hard. I had stalled momentarily, lost at the sight of our ally brought down, but when I peered closer, I could see just the faintest sign of the Northern King’s sides moving with slight breaths. He was unconscious, not dead, and he would be for a while, and his opponent likely assumed him gone.

That knowledge fueled my resolve again and, as Stoick ran to help Valka to her feet, I turned toward Drago as he swung his bullhook, yelling and pointing toward the pair. The new reigning alpha focused on them, and a chill swept through me, prompting me to scream “Run!” They both looked up, and Stoick scooped his wife up before fleeing toward an outcrop of rocks, recognizing the futility of running for their dragons when a jet of ice exploded across the gravel where they once stood.

The whistle of a fast-moving object grabbed my attention, and I ducked back just in time to find Drago’s weapon swinging in toward my head. I lifted up both blades, the CLANG! of metal ringing out over the battlefield when his bullhook held up against my swords. Immediately that told me Drago, too, was fighting with no ordinary metal. I threw the hook to the side, blocking again as he spun the other end toward me, and then rolled and knocked out the two soldiers who had tried to come in behind me. Standing up again, I dematerialized one sword and aimed the tip of the other toward Drago, streams of electricity running down it and coalescing at the tip.

“You are _wearing_ the skin of a Night Fury,” I spat. “That’s more than enough in my eyes to justify killing you here and now. It also tells me that if I let this bolt go, there’s nothing you will be able to do to dodge or escape it. Your vile cape is fireproof, but even a Night Fury can be electrocuted.”

Drago stepped back from me slowly, scowling as I gestured toward the Bewilderbeast trying to find Stoick and Valka. “Call him and the Red Death off and leave while you still have a chance, or you will find yourself as crispy as a cricket that got stepped on by a Skrill.”

“You don’t have the heart to do it, not in cold blood,” Drago quipped back. “I heard as much from Jezebel.” I frowned. “Oh? I’ve fought many battles and been in life-and-death situations more times than I care to count. I hate to kill, but those sorts of experiences tend to really change”-

Suddenly I found myself being violently broadsided by a massive tailfin. Drago hadn’t been backing up in fear of me (after all, madmen have little in the way of self-preservation); he was getting out of the way and clearing a path for the Bewilderbeast’s tail.

My breath was ripped out of me and my sword dematerialized on instinct. A couple of ribs cracked, distracting me with pain, and too stunned to react at how I had missed such a massive danger, I forgot to spread my wings and try to fly before I hit the side of the volcano, hard, and slid down the side.

The world swam as pounding pain rocked my head and chest, and the last thing I spotted before I blacked out were two dark figures flying through the air, one toward me and the other going straight for Drago.


	14. Shevur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter begins another tradition I like, the titles coming from a language of great importance to me. Anyone want to guess its meaning?

_Trembling lips and the river of eyes_

_Mar perfection’s peaceful guise_

_Crack the chasm, damage done_

_Ignite the battle never won_

_The questions now will freely fall_

_Never will be answered all_

_How we cry to turn the past_

_Make that day be not the last_

_Na’er is time kind to the soul_

_It leaves behind a burning hole_

_Every mind will have a time_

_When their rhythm has no rhyme_

_And all their life is torn apart_

_In the musings of a broken heart_

Electric bolt and plasma fireball collided in unison with scales, and the explosion sent the Red Death careening to one side n its flight, right into the line of fire from magnesium flame and Nadder spikes.

<YOU VILE, WORTHLESS LITLE PIECES OF-!>

Hiccup grimaced as the behemoth spewed out curses and death threats faster than he did his flames. “Alright, one more occasion where understanding Dragonese is _not_ a wonderful thing,” he grumbled. <Try having always understood it for your entire life, surrounded by foul mouths,> Toothless muttered back, nodding in agreement. The pair looped around again, Hiccup aiming Framherja at the back of the Red Death’s neck, waiting for enough of a distraction to arise in order to line up a clear shot. Sure enough, Ember and Orha roped its attention toward them, the head swinging downward as those two fired at its throat. Hiccup and Toothless took the chance, firing again and hitting dead center on the spine.

The Red Death jerked and stalled for a moment in its flight as the combined bolt impacted, stunning it for a fraction of a second before it turned all six eyes their way. “Well, at least we know it works a little,” Hiccup said quietly, eyes widening as he flattened himself against Toothless’ back, the pair arcing away as flames poured forth from the gargantuan mouth. Seconds later a swarm of enthralled dragons came up and met them head on, forcing the duo downward slightly. A single well-aimed shot of Night Fury fire scattered them enough however for Toothless to pull up again, and arrow once more toward their quarry.

“Hiccup!”

The mentioned teen jerked at the sound of his name, and turned immediately to see Astrid and Thorn flying full speed toward them. “The White Bewilderbeast on our side is down!” Astrid yelled again. “And Hawken just got thrown against the volcano! I haven’t seen him move either!”

“He was knocked out?” Hiccup queried, eyes swinging downward and scanning the battlefield below. The dark Bewilderbeast was no longer bothering with the white one, who Hiccup could see clearly splayed across the rocks along one side of the volcano. His heart quickened at that, and then stopped when he noticed where the victor was looking: something was hidden in a jumble of rocks, and the alpha was completely ignoring the Stormcutter and Thunderdrum trying to draw it away, immediately telling Hiccup what the Bewilderbeast was looking for. Behind the behemoth, slumped at the bottom of the mountain and approached by a battalion of soldiers, he could also see the still form of Hawken.

“Think you can keep this guy busy until I get back?” Hiccup called over to Astrid. “No problem!” she returned, immediately steering Thorn back toward the Red Death. Hiccup nodded and turned Toothless toward Ember and Orha.

“Hawken needs your help!” he yelled, garnering the young woman’s attention and pointing toward the figure in the rocks. “I need to find Drago and get him to call off the Bewilderbeast before he finds my parents!”

Ember nodded in agreement. “Got it!” she yelled, and Orha banked away immediately and turned toward Hawken, while Toothless shot toward the battlefield, air screaming as he dove.

Hiccup scanned the marred ground below, readily picking out the large, scarred figure heading in the direction of the Bewilderbeast, yelling and waving his bullhook as he pointed toward the rocks. “That’s him, bud,” he growled. <You want me to shoot him first and ask questions later?> Toothless queried a little too enthusiastically. Hiccup only shook his head. “Not yet. He’s the only one whom that dragon will probably listen to; we need him to draw the Bewilderbeast away or call it off first, somehow, before we can attack.”

Nevertheless, as Toothless aimed for Drago, he fired off a bolt that narrowly missed the man, exploding and throwing Drago to his knees for a moment as Hiccup leapt off and hit the ground in a crouch, standing up slowly and aiming Framherja at the warlord.

“Call off the Bewilderbeast, now!” Hiccup ordered vehemently, pulling back the string so that the energy bolt coalesced in his grip, oscillating and ready to be released. Drago only pulled himself to his feet and laughed, looking between Hiccup and Toothless mockingly.

“So this is the so-called Dragon Master,” he sneered. “With the reputation you’ve earned I had been hoping for someone a little…more. What a sad irony that such a _nothing_ of a boy rides the only Night Fury left.” Hiccup only snorted. “Yeah, I’ve already heard every joke about my size in existence,” he snapped. “Now call off your dragon or I will…hold on, the _last_?”

He’d heard it once before, mentioned by Jezebel the last time they’d faced, but hadn’t had a chance to really think about it. Now, the words struck him in the momentary stall, Hiccup’s eyes widening as he glanced at Toothless, whose own eyes were also now wide, pupils slit in hurt and fury. Drago simply grinned and gestured to his ghastly cape. “Oh, yes, the last. The rest of this once-proud race were killed off years ago, the last a broken female who gave me this. Your precious dragon is the only one left.” He chuckled menacingly, seeing he’d hit a nerve, and looked around.

“Now that the white one is down, I too command one of the only Bewilderbeasts left in existence as well. How perfectly fitting it would be to end this battle by riding the very last Night Fury as well. All I have to do is get rid of”-

Toothless fired, point blank at Drago, who covered himself on instinct with the skin he wore. The fire exploded, the shockwave racing outward and buffeting Hiccup, but it did no damage to the warlord’s cape. Drago skidded backward somewhat from the force, before letting go of the skin and glancing at Toothless almost pityingly.

“You dare to attack me, your rightful ruler?” he mocked spitefully. “No, that simply won’t do at all.”

Without warning, Drago threw out his bullhook, the blunt end colliding with Hiccup’s chest and sending the teen to the ground, Framherja flying from his grip. Then Drago spun the weapon over his head and let out a reverberating yell, one that promised nothing good as it garnered his Bewilderbeast’s attention.

<Master desires something,> the behemoth spoke, the low, rumbling voice freezing Hiccup as he scrambled to his feet while the Bewilderbeast lowered his head and looked to Drago. The warlord smiled darkly, turning his bullhook to point to the snarling Toothless, and the Bewilderbeast’s attention shifted accordingly, intense focus of his eyes drilling into the Night Fury.

* * *

Orha dropped down in front of the line of soldiers, spewing flames in all directions as Ember leapt off and ran over to Hawken. Placing two fingers on his neck, she breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the pulse of a heartbeat under her touch, and moments later spotted his chest rising with an intake of breath. Hawken was only unconscious, and covered in small scrapes and bruises which she knew he would heal when he woke up.

Until then, however, she spun and pulled out a sword, knowing her bow would be of little use in such close quarters with the enemy, and as her Shadowracer spun and knocked soldiers back with his tail, following up with blasts of fire and acid, she began to engage those who managed to get any closer.

Nigh-indestructible metal sang as it sliced through the air, Ember’s Mysteel blade cutting down weapons of lesser grade, and sending the owners who wielded matching weapons careening backward under the force of her angered blows. More soldiers were still surging up the slope, and Ember could clearly see that they cared not so much about her as they did about the young man she defended. They had recognized the potential of taking out the dragon boy while he was unable to fight back, and that blatant lack of honor sparked something all the more dangerous.

A cold, calculating anger settled over Ember’s mind, a feeling she rarely experienced and never at this intensity before. The person she protected now along with all her other new friends had saved her life several times in the short period she’d known them, and given her a new home. Ember had already made up her mind that she would rather die before she let Hawken be taken under her watch.

As she swung and drove her blade through the side of another side-stepping soldier, a second broke past her and rushed for the incapacitated teen behind Ember, his own weapon raised high.

“NO!” Ember screamed, slamming her blade against the men now facing her and spinning around in an attempt to catch the escapee. She missed her lunge, her sword and her hands slamming to the ground as she slipped on the loose rocks beneath her feet as she reached again for the man. Too far to grab him, her heart stopped as the soldier grinned and raised his sword up, preparing to stab it down through the boy on the ground…

…only for him to miss as he slipped backward, falling on his face and rolling down the slope on the sheet of ice that had formed. Ember watched in surprise for a moment, before looking down at her hands and the blade she still gripped, frost coating them as the ice spread from her touch.

Slowly she turned and glanced down the mountain, watching the river of frozen water slow its progress and stop below her. Orha had lifted off the ground, and was hovering above as he stared at her in a similar state of surprise. The other soldiers, too, had halted their advance, most unable to move forward as they failed to gain foothold on the new, treacherous surface. Others were stuck in place, with their boots frozen to the rocks, and therefore unable to reach their quarry.

“What…what on earth just happened?” Ember sputtered, looking at her hands again, before her mind finally began to piece the situation together, an idea forming in her head as a new smile spread on her face.

“Two sides of a coin,” she whispered, standing up, before yelling louder, “Fire and ice! That’s it!”

“Uh, you okay Ember?” Orha called down. “Want to explain what happened here?” Ember nodded excitedly. “Oh, I’m more than okay. That’s what’s going on, fire and ice: the ability I have, it’s not restricted to heat. I can control both ends of the spectrum, cold as well as hot!”

Ember grinned even wider before looking down at the men below her, who noticed her look and froze (no pun intended), knowing what was coming. The redhead nodded in affirmation to them before stomping down with one foot, the ground crackling as a new wave of frost raced from her and down the hill, effectively cutting off any further attacks from the ground.

“Yes!” she cheered, barely noticing Hawken stirring behind her in the heat of the moment. Then her gaze drifted out across the battlefield, centering on the beach to the southwest of her.

Ember’s heart jumped into her throat as she watched the Bewilderbeast loom over Hiccup and Toothless, and a large figure she assumed was Drago was swinging something over his head, the savage screams from his mouth drifting over the landscape to Ember’s ears.

The memory of the film they had watched not much more than a week before suddenly resurfaced, and all Ember could manage to muster was a quiet, strained “Oh, no” before Hawken groaned in pain behind her, and above them both Orha screeched in terror and shot away clumsily, seemingly no longer in control of his own body. Both Ember took as a sign that something horrific was about to happen.

* * *

It was exactly what he swore would never happen, something he believed was no longer possible now that he had a rider, a bond. Toothless grimaced and shook his head violently as a sudden, overwhelming pressure rose up and took hold of his mind and body. That tangible, almost physical tie he had come to recognize between himself and Hiccup began to fray, only the pieces connecting the dragon to his own mind remaining.

As he held onto those shreds of his other half with all his strength, Toothless felt his body shift, moving as of if through its own accord. He glanced up at Hiccup in fear, and only managed to say one desperate word before he felt himself become shut off, watching through his own eyes as something else controlled his body entirely: “Run!”

Hiccup stumbled in fear as the worries, the buried anxieties of the past week hit him again full force. He barely registered Drago laughing hysterically somewhere off to the side as the Night Fury began to advance on him. Toothless’ eyes were flickering slightly, but the pupils still a natural slit unlike what he’d seen in the enthralled dragons; there was fear there, Hiccup could practically feel the terror that exuded off his dragon.

Toothless was watching himself go after his rider, his brother, Hiccup realized, but the Night Fury couldn’t do a thing. He was in there, Hiccup could see him, but powerless. This hit him harder than if his friend had been removed from his own head completely, and for a moment Hiccup lost his voice in the paralyzing feeling that washed over him.

Moments later it came back, and Hiccup found himself shouting as Toothless advanced. “No, no, Toothless you’re in there, fight it!” he screamed, backing away toward what he hoped was an open space where at least he could dodge a shot if it came. The dragon’s head twitched slightly, but he continued in his advance, eyes widening further in abject terror.

Hiccup felt his foot brush against something in the gravel a moment before his back rubbed up against a solid surface. He turned back slightly first, finding himself against the ice of the Bewilderbeast, the crystal substance towering over him and curving around so that he couldn’t dodge either direction without getting caught. Panic gripped him as he glanced at Toothless again, before looking down to see what his foot had hit.

Framherja lay in the gravel, sending a sliver of hope through Hiccup’s mind. He bent down and grabbed the weapon, noting now out of the corner of his eye both his father and mother, taking advantage of the Bewilderbeast’s new focus and knocking Drago out of the way as they raced toward him and Toothless.

“HICCUP!!” Stoick yelled, running as fast as he could, praying he would get there in time despite the ominous story his son had told him. But there wasn’t time enough, as the alpha dragon above them leaned forward, eyes focusing closer as he forced Toothless to open his jaws, the gas building up at the back of his throat as that wind-mimicking screech grew in power.

Hiccup’s mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out a way out of this. He held Framherja up, knowing it was a long shot. But if timed right, he could offset the blast, maybe.

“Dad, stop!” he screamed, lifting up the bow and pulling back the string, aiming the bolt that formed toward Toothless. Stoick either didn’t hear him or ignored the yell, however, only seeing his son in mortal danger, in the exact position that he was told the teens had watched. The man didn’t care what happened to him; he only cared that he would ensure the survival of his son, somehow.

Time slowed to a crawl. The fuel in Toothless’ mouth ignited, a blinding bluish sphere of superheated gas rolling out of his jaws. At the same time, Hiccup fired Framherja, the electric bolt streaming forward just before his father rammed into him, throwing Hiccup to the ground as the two powerful projectiles collided.

Hiccup had heard Hawken’s explanation before about what happened when Night Fury fire met electricity, seen it in action once; the ionized plasma of one supercharged with the other in a subatomic fusion, the resulting energy release always immense. In the small, semi-enclosed space they were all trapped near, the result was devastating.

The explosion rolled outward with searing heat and great force. Hiccup felt the shockwave flatten him into the gravel, saw through the searing light Toothless skid backward as the same wave slammed into him. Out of the corner of his eye he also saw his father, still standing mostly upright, get hit almost straight on, throwing him almost headfirst into the ice behind them. As the echoing thunder of the blast ripped into the crystalline structure, chunks of ice fractured and broke off, falling on top of Stoick as he slid to the ground as well, and he did not move afterward.

The blast finally died down, the echoes bouncing back off the volcano as all other sound seemed to cease, and Hiccup scrambled to his feet, glancing only momentarily at Toothless, whose expression mirrored a person who’d been run through with a spear before his gaze fell forward. Valka, who had also been knocked to the ground by the shockwave, came up behind him as they both stared disbelievingly at Stoick, lying unmoving beneath two massive slabs of ice.

* * *

I awoke just in time to watch it unfold. Ember stood stock still just in front of me as we both stared, too far away to interfere, as Toothless prowled forward after Hiccup, both Stoick and Valka racing toward them but also just too far off. My heart shattered as the movie scene unfolded almost identically, Toothless firing point blank. But Hiccup did so as well, and Stoick came just close enough to leap against his son right as the explosion ensued, forcing Ember and I to turn our eyes away for a moment from the blinding light.

I knew, or thought I knew, exactly what just had happened, knew exactly how Hiccup and Toothless had both felt concerning if this ever did happen, and as that same pain blossomed in my own chest at the sight, something powerful tore within me.

“No. No, no, no,” I whispered numbly, a rage defying explanation rising up as I felt rivulets of electricity build up, pure energy beginning to race through me and over my skin. Ember turned to stare as I suddenly morphed to Skrill again and shot upward, heedless of the injuries still covering my skin.

A new scream escaped my lungs, an agonized <NNOOOOO!!!!> that ripped from my throat, melting into a powerful, sky-rattling shriek as I raced up into the now very dark storm clouds above. There was little energy left stored in me, what little there was snaking out of my jaws in a bolt of electricity, streaking into the sky. From the clouds returned lightning bolt after lightning bolt, striking the streamer and channeling dangerous levels of electricity down into me.

It’s written that vengeance is the Lord’s, but in that moment I felt it would have taken death itself to stop what was coming. I felt like I was on the verge of overload, the energy rush perfectly matching my emotions, the hole I felt ripping open. Falling, not diving, back toward the ground moments later, I no longer held any reserve about retaliation; what had just transpired had pushed me too far, and someone was about to pay the cost.

I flared my wings just before I hit the ground, and released every volt of electricity, every ounce of energy I had stored in me. A ripple of power exploded across the landscape, flattening any war machines not destroyed earlier and throwing both man and enthralled dragon alike into the air and then into the ground, hard.

A pair of bolts raced toward different targets, the first missing the dark Bewilderbeast as he dove into the ocean, escaping my wrath.

The second, however, hit its mark directly. I looked on, no feelings of regret or remorse at that moment, as the lightning struck the Red Death when he turned my way, intent on helping his allies. His mouth had opened in preparation to fire on me, and the bolt had gone in, dancing across his teeth and then racing down his throat, causing the monster to convulse in the overload to his system for a few moments before the electric discharge finished its job. Sparks flew off every point on the Red Death’s body as it fell, lifeless, to the earth below, and the impact sounded with a sickening crunch. The earth heaved as the force punched yet another massive crater into the landscape, and set off by the electricity the fuel reserves inside the Death ignited, a massive fireball roiling outward, leaving nothing behind but charred scales.

Then, silence. Ash fell from the dying fire, and from the clouds above came the storm’s payload, a drizzle of rain that started light, and slowly built up as time moved on.

I had dropped to my knees, demorphing, as the throes of my inner agony for my brothers were released. Then, winded, I slowly staggered to my feet, turning toward where I had last seen Drago with an expression promising death engraved on my face. The warlord saw this immediately, and this time didn’t doubt it. Having been knocked down by Stoick earlier, he also got to his feet, and quickly retreated, grabbing the leg of an enthralled Nightmare as it flew past in the direction of the Bewilderbeast, all of them retreating away from the island and the only ones left, once more, being those no longer alive, or those bonded to riders who had once more found control over their own bodies again.

“This isn’t over!” Drago called out as he and his dragons disappeared into the fading fog, to be followed shortly later by the ships of the soldiers who had survived. “I do not hold the upper hand in this battle, but it is not the last! I will return, I will come with my allies, and _she_ will take care of the rest of you if I can’t!” Then, he was gone.

The last of the adrenaline finally left my system then, causing my to notice my wounds, now further stressed by my outburst, and forcing me to heal myself. Then, my gaze turned, and I began stumbling over to where Hiccup was pulling at Stoick’s arm. For the second time in less than five minutes, it felt like something had rammed through my chest at the sight, the pain making me fear the worst.

* * *

“Dad! Dad, please wake up! Dad!”

Hiccup threw the slabs of ice off his father with a strength he didn’t know he had, and then pulled as hard as he could to try and roll his father over. Valka appeared at his side moments later, helping him, and then she threw himself against Stoick’s chest, pressing her ear to his body and desperately listening.

After a few moments, she could hear neither his breathing, nor a heartbeat. She slowly looked up at Hiccup, straight into his eyes, as tears began to build in her own.

“No,” Hiccup whispered, before dropping down and grabbing his father’s shoulders again and shaking him. “NO! Dad, wake up!” He barely registered Hawken stumbling up to him, the rain beginning to fall, or even the other dragon riders and villagers beginning to gather around them. However, he immediately registered another voice, fearful and pained, as it came slowly closer and the owner nudged Stoick’s hand.

“Stoick? Stoick?! Please, tell me you’re there! You have to be there! Tell me I’m having a nightmare, tell me this didn’t happen, wake up!” Toothless whimpered, his eyes, ears, his entire form expressing great agony and mortification, especially now that he was fully under his own control once more.

Hiccup watched this for a moment, numb, before a boiling rage welled up within him. Later on, he would recall the fear in Toothless’ eyes as he was forced to advance, to fire; later he would recall the pain the Night Fury was expressing at that moment. Deep down even at that moment he knew the anger was misplaced, as he knew what had just happened. But right then Hiccup wanted someone to blame, to vent at, and before he could stop himself he exploded.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!!” he screamed, voice cracking as he reared back, winding up and actually punching Toothless square in the snout. “You did this! Get away from him!”

Toothless reeled back, not physically hurt much by the blow, but he felt something cut very deep into his own heart. As Hiccup reared back to hit him again, Toothless shrank from his rider, turning away and beginning to walk absently down the beach, rivulets of rain running off him as the downpour grew heavier. He didn’t look back to see Hawken grabbing onto Hiccup and trying to hold him still as the Viking screamed more.

No, all Toothless knew was that he had just killed Stoick, one of the few he had thought he could call family. He hadn’t been as strong as he thought he was, not strong enough to stop it, and now thanks to his failure he was also losing what he held most important: Hiccup, his brother, his other half.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The worst part of the second film...since I incorporated said film into this story, that scene was going to come around eventually...but question is, did I keep it with the same end? Cliffhanger to be answered only in the next chapter...


	15. Breathe

_In that place between life and death_

_The featureless nothing of emotion_

_All becomes a crystal blur_

_Caught at the crossroads of agony and joy_

I grabbed Hiccup’s fists as he lunged at Toothless again and pulled him back, preventing the boy from attacking the dragon.

“Let go of me!” he screamed, trying desperately to wrench himself away. One hand came loose and swung upward, catching me across the cheek before my tail whipped forward and pinned him again. “Let go of me!”

“Hiccup, it wasn’t his fault!” Valka pleaded as she came forward and grabbed his shoulders, helping me restrain Hiccup and sit him down again. “I don’t know how they managed to break through, but it wasn’t Toothless who did this. Hiccup, I’ve watched both of you; he would never try to hurt you or Stoick.”

As Valka tried to reach Hiccup in the dark point his mind had descended into, I heard sobs and cries of disbelief begin to rise up from the others gathering around us. Astrid landed moments later and leapt off Thorn, racing to take my place holding Hiccup as I stepped away, blocking out the sounds around me as my focus turned to the chief. Kneeling down, I placed my hand on his chest, head bowed as I listened desperately for something to tell me it was not real. This time Toothless hadn’t shot Stoick directly, and the man had been wearing the Mysteel armor Hiccup had made him, but an electroplasmic shockwave was powerful. It would have taken a mirac-

_Thump-thump._

For a moment it didn’t register. Then I blinked, and raised my head to stare down at Stoick’s chest, before scrambling to remove the plate of armor he had on and placing my ear to his chest, listening again. I caught a glimpse of Hiccup and Valka looking at me with worry for my sanity and pain at the reminder, but I focused on Stoick again.

For a moment, there was nothing. Then, for a second time, I heard it, too faint for human ears to detect through the rain but not so silent that a dragon’s couldn’t: a faint, weakened beat of a heart.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, “he’s still alive.”

“What?” Hiccup choked, having heard me say something but not what I said. Slowly, I turned my head to look at him, the faint glimmer of hope rising in me again. “Hiccup, he has a heartbeat,” I said louder. “He’s still alive!”

Hiccup didn’t move for a moment, before what I said clicked, and a light began to reappear in his eyes as I scrambled to remove the rest of Stoick’s armor to that I could free up his airways and remove any chance of blood constriction. “But…but I didn’t feel anything, my mom didn’t hear anything,” he stammered. “And human ears are not as strong as a dragon’s,” I returned, shaking my head. “No, he’s got a heartbeat, albeit faint, and,” I held my hand over Stoick’s nose, feeling the slight flow of air, “I can feel air moving past his mouth. He’s still in there; I’m going to try healing him, everyone move back.”

Valka and Hiccup both stepped back slightly as I placed a hand over Stoick’s forehead and the other over his heart. “Lord, help me,” I whispered. “Come on Stoick, breathe.” I felt energy build up and begin to course through my hands. The glow appeared and swirled around my digits, gaining strength.

Then…it stopped. It didn’t leave my hands, Stoick didn’t start breathing better, nothing. I blinked and sat back a moment, confused, before trying a second time. The energy built up, and again, nothing.

“No,” I said quietly. “No, come on this has to work!” A third time, but still nothing. I sat back, fear returning. “I…I can’t heal him,” I whispered, before the rational part of me kicked in again and I stood up and turned to the crowd.

“Someone find Sigrid, now!” I ordered. “Stoick needs immediate attention!” The crowd began shuffling and moving again as the order was passed through them, before Sigrid was finally located.

“But, I thought you could make him better,” Hiccup blurted, his eyes beginning to grow wild again and that lick of anger returning. “We can’t lose him, not now! You have to do something!”

“I can’t!” I snapped, before catching myself and softening my tone. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t get mad. Look, I thought I could. That’s what the healing almost always does, and I don’t know another means. But this ability was given; someone else has the final say, remember?” I turned and caught sight of Ember nearby, having arrived not too long before. “This happened once before, remember?”

“With me,” Ember said quietly, garnering Hiccup’s gaze. I nodded. “Sometimes things have to take a natural pace. Why, I can’t answer, I’m not the Almighty.” I looked straight at Hiccup, and then at Valka as well. “Stoick has basically had a heart attack coupled with a severe concussion. We are going to have to watch him carefully, and he’s going to be very weak for a time, but,” I grabbed Hiccup’s shoulders and looked him square in the eye, “we. Will. Not. Lose him.”

Hiccup bit his lip, clearly not liking this situation (not that I was pleased with it either), but then he nodded, and we both moved aside as Astrid came through, trailed by her mother, Sigrid. Immediately the healer knelt down to Stoick and began belting out orders for materials and direction to help the chief and clear the way for the others who had been injured in some manner.

Then Ruffnut spoke up, asking the one question we hadn’t gotten to and had hoped to avoid at such an awkward moment. “Uh, so who’s going to be chief while Stoick’s passed out?”

All eyes slowly swung to Hiccup, whose eyes widened for an entirely new reason. “What? No, no, no I can’t do that, not now. I…” he gestured to his father in his lack of words, before continuing. “I’m not ready for that at the moment.”

“Nonetheless, you’re next in line,” Valka gently reminded him, “and the village needs someone. You have it in you.”

I placed a hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. “You’re a better leader than you give yourself credit for, Hiccup,” I said. “You have humility, maybe a little too much, and you’re smart. You’ll be able to do this, at least until Stoick wakes up.” Hiccup nodded, before his eyes darkened once more. “But what if he doesn’t….wake up?” he asked quietly.

This time I grabbed both of Hiccup’s shoulders and forced him to look me in the eyes. “I’ve told you before, don’t think like that!” I urged, and gestured to where Sigrid was preparing a stretcher for the chief and directing several villagers to hold up canvas to keep the rain off. “Stoick has a lot of good people to look after him, and he’s still there. But he also needs you to be there for him. Give up on him now and there’s no good waiting. And I’ve also told you before, words are powerful. What you say can change everything around you. So can your attitude, your outlook on life.”

Hiccup closed his mouth tightly as I continued. “We will get through this; Sigrid will bring your father back around, and we will find a way to turn things in our favor again. But right now, we also need to focus on getting everyone out of here and back to Berk. You know what needs to happen; you’ve done it before, even if not on this scale. And, we will listen, so just start telling the others what has to happen next.”

Hiccup glanced at his feet, and then over at his father once more, who was being lifted onto the stretcher as Sigrid held a stethoscope (a gift from me some time back) to his chest, keeping tabs on his pulse, and he nodded. “Okay,” he said taking in a deep breath and turning to the villagers. “Alright, um, Phlegma, take the other riders and scout the area; make sure Drago isn’t coming back for an ambush. Hoark, oversee any repairs needed to the ships and weapons, and choose a vessel to carry any who are injured and can’t be dealt with before we return to the village. Gobber, direct a group to pick up anything of use on the beach here.” “Got it!” the burly blacksmith said, turning around and hobbling away to round up some of the Vikings for his job.

“The rest of you,” Hiccup continued, “if you are not directed to follow them, help in any other manner you can. There are a lot of little details that need to be taken care of. And mom, Sigrid?”

The two women turned to look at Hiccup as he tried to find the right words. Finally he stammered, “Keep…keep my father safe on the way home.” They both nodded sharply, and the rest of the crowd began to disperse as the assigned people directed their selected peers for the tasks at hand. I stayed near Hiccup, however, as he turned and began walking off in a direction adjacent to everyone else.

I looked ahead, searching for Hiccup’s aim, and found where he was headed. Up ahead of us, the dark figure of a Night Fury was slowly meandering away, head hung low and his tail and both wings dragging in the gravel.

“Hiccup, what are you doing?” I asked, walking up next to him. “I have to talk to him,” he said firmly, marching past me. I grimaced. “Look, I agree that you two need to talk,” I said, trying to get ahead of him, “but you have a village that needs to be taken care of, and neither of you are in a stable enough state of mind to work this”-

“I DON’T CARE!!” Hiccup exploded. “I yelled at him, I hit him, I told him to leave , all the while he was trying to stop himself, trying to do the right thing when he couldn’t!” He stopped momentarily and glared at me. “I blamed him even though I am more at fault than anyone! I wouldn’t take the shot when we both had it; I have to say something!” He shoved past me again and yelled out, “TOOTHLESS!! Toothless wait!”

The Night Fury glanced over his shoulder, but just as I had feared, I saw the pain hit his eyes again and he turned away, wings snapping out as he pushed off and flew up to the peak of a high sea stack, out of view from the ground.

Hiccup stumbled in his steps, strength leaving him again as he watched his closest friend and brother take off. “Toothless….” He spoke half-heartedly. “He’s…he’s not dead…I need you..”

He sank to the ground, a new wave of tears spilling off his face once more. “I…I’ve lost both of them,” he sobbed. “This is all my fault. If I…if I had just kept him away, Drago would’ve never thought of…why can’t I ever do anything right?!”

He bent over, letting his emotions run free. For a couple of minutes, I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything really, that wouldn’t sound like an excuse at that moment, so I knelt beside Hiccup and waited, sharing his pain. I spotted Astrid out of the corner of my eye walking our way, great concern painting her features, but I shook my head. She stopped, nodded slowly, and turned away again.

“Hiccup,” I finally said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder again as he appeared to near the end of his release of emotion. He batted it away however, and I sighed. “Hiccup, you haven’t lost anything yet, and it wasn’t your fault.” I knelt lower, trying to see his face. “No one can guess what could have been; we’re not God, we can’t reach back and change the past. But right now, your father is still here, and you and Toothless are both grieving right now for the same reason. Look at me,” I persuaded gently. Hiccup slowly glanced up at me, even if only for a second.

“Both of you feel like you just broke your friendship,” I continued. “You think you could have done something different, and I’m sure Toothless feels the same way, like he should have been stronger. But things happen for a reason; you can’t change what happened, okay?”

Hiccup still didn’t say anything, so I continued, looking up in relief to see the rain was finally letting up. “You and Toothless are standing on the same ground right now, and you both need time to gather your thoughts before you try and straighten this out. Grief occurs for a purpose; it may hurt, but give him a day or two. I’ll try and talk to him, and let him know that Stoick’s still with us. You two are very close, you know how the other thinks, feels, works, as much as any real pair of brothers would. You can fix this, but all healing does take time.” These words made me look back toward Stoick, starting to gather one reason why we were being put through this.

Hiccup slowly looked up at me, and I saw the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. “You’re…you’re probably right,” he admitted quietly. “Just…do me a favor before I get that chance to talk to him, will you?” “Anything,” I assured. He smiled genuinely this time. “Don’t let him flay away.”

This time I smiled. “Oh, don’t worry, he can’t outrun me. He’ll be stuck with me as much as with you.” Hiccup laughed a bit, but it died away as a loud, low moan rumbled out from off to our side. We turned to see the Northern King, the Bewilderbeast from the ice nest, wheeze as he began to regain consciousness once more.

“Go on and help the others,” I encouraged. “It looks like there is still someone who needs my help as well.” Hiccup nodded and stood up shakily, wiping off the mud that was sticking to his outfit before turning toward the rest of the bustling Vikings at the edge of the beach. I watched for a moment as Astrid now walked up to him, and she and Hiccup embraced each other, hard, before I turned to the injured Bewilderbeast.

His eyes slid open just barely as I approached and, unable to see clearly for a moment and thinking me an enemy, he gave a staggered growl and began to draw in a breath to fire at me with. I held up my hands placatingly. <It’s alright, friend, it’s just me,> I said softly. The Northern King’s eyes widened a little, and he then relaxed, wincing as a shot of pain ran through him.

<I’m here to help,> I explained, <just hold still for a moment.> <You have…healing power?> he rumbled quietly (quiet a relative term). I smiled and nodded. <Yes, one of the gifts that came with what was given.>

I reached up a hand and lay it on the tusk that lay entrenched in the gravel, and focused slowly. This time, a wave of energy raced through me and down my hands, entering the Bewilderbeast and spreading through his own body. The wounds on his sides began to knit together, and life began to enter his eyes again. Slowly he turned his head, and began to right himself as I backed out of the way of his tusks so that he could look down at me properly again.

<Thank you for your service,> he said. I nodded. <We pulled you into a fight that was not your own,> I admonished, <and you paid the price. It’s the least I can do in return, especially since your nest needs the Northern King back. And please, I request you return to your home, take care of the dragons that need you there. You have done more than enough for us.>

The Bewilderbeast gave his version of a smile and a low chuckle, and shook his head slowly. <Please, my name is Tohar,> he said. <The Northern King is an old title I was given a long time ago, a bit pompous for my own taste. And it matters not that you requested for me to fight, for it would have become my own battle one day eventually. I should stay, and continue to fight at your side when they return. The nest will stay strong on its own for now.>

I shook my head fervently. <No, I insist that you return home. The dragons there need protection; the other Bewilderbeast somehow had the capacity to break through even to bonded dragons. And, we have but one alpha dragon to face now; we should be able to hold when our other allies join us.>

Tohar’s expression grew conflicted, but he eventually nodded. <Very well then. Both for your sake and that of my old friend the Mystique I will return. But I will be ready if you are ever in need of my help again.> He stood up slowly, and turned toward the ocean, gathering the eyes of the Vikings who gave a small cheer at seeing the Bewilderbeast on our side alive and well. I, meanwhile, headed back toward the ships, to lend a hand in preparation for the return to Berk.


	16. How to Mend a Broken Heart

_Those few days were the hardest times I have ever experienced. Held down by the responsibility to my village, and burdened by a fear I’d never felt both for my father and my best friend, my brother Toothless; for so long it felt hopeless, I felt like I should just give up. I thank God every day now that I didn’t, because that experience made me stronger than I ever was before. It taught me to hold on, because even though sometimes we are thrown into situations so bleak we can’t see our way out of it, there is still a way._

_~Hiccup_

Two days had passed since we returned to Berk. Toothless had followed us the whole way back, staying high above the ships and avoiding contact with the other riders until we reached the island. Then, he disappeared into the forest. I knew where he was, that he was watching most of the time, but I also knew that he wasn’t quite ready to be approached, so I didn’t tell anyone else where to find him either.

Stoick had stayed unconscious, the visible signs of his concussion beginning to show on the way back in the form of swelling temples and his still-weakened breath. He had been laid upon his bed when we returned, and both Valka and Sigrid busied themselves making sure his condition did not deteriorate any further. They had both taken to shifts, one always watching and caring for him even in the middle of the night. Stoick was deep into a coma, however, and we all knew he would likely not wake for a very long time.

Astrid became Hiccup’s crutch, the person he leaned on as he attempted to handle the issues in the village, what with his father unavailable for the job. Often when he felt too overwhelmed Astrid was always right there, holding him as his emotions got the better of him on occasion, and taking the burden off his shoulders for a while to fend off the more unruly villagers when things went south. I was there to help as well of course, a face everyone listened to and so the village would wisely follow my orders when Hiccup became stretched too far and Astrid was similarly unavailable.

However, after those two days had passed back on the island I had seen no improvement at all in Hiccup’s mood, and the reason why became clear every time he glanced in the direction of the cove. I knew I had to speak to Toothless soon, and try to get the both of them to talk to each other; otherwise I knew we would lose both of them as we knew it, not physically but in mind and soul.

I landed near the forest’s edge, quietly so as not to alert Toothless to my being there yet. He sat at the very edge of Cliff Point, as Hiccup had once called it, staring out over the precipice at the ocean beyond the village below and to the east of us, but his eyes were without focus, not really seeing anything. It had rained, heavily, twice since we’d gotten back, but even then he had not seemed to move at all.

I walked forward slowly, the rustling of wet grass under my shoes eventually catching the Night Fury’s attention. Toothless turned and focused on me, and I watched the pain once again ignite in his eyes, followed by anger, both at himself and at me for disturbing him. He turned and spread his wings in preparation to take off.

“You know that if you try to leave, I will have no choice but to drag you back down and pin you to the ground until you listen to me,” I warned pointedly. “You may be the fastest living dragon species, but I can still change into things that are faster.” Toothless froze in place for a moment, before letting out a sigh of defeat and letting his wings and body droop to the ground.

<What do you want?> he asked tiredly and out of irritation. “I just want you to take a moment and listen to me, right now,” I replied softly, slowly moving forward and sitting on the ground next to the Night Fury. Now that I was this close I could see the lines of salt from dried tears on his scales, and the weathered look of his eyes telling me he hadn’t slept either. Toothless didn’t look at me when I sat down, but he nodded once to say that he’d heard me.

“Okay, first off, you need to know that everything is not as bad off as you think it is,” I began. I was about to continue when Toothless’ head snapped in my direction, anger flaring in his eyes. <Oh? It’s not? Last time I checked I killed the one person I had been able to look at as a father figure, and the actual father of my best friend!> he snapped.

“No, you didn’t,” I panned right back. “For one, you were _not_ the one who did anything. Drago and his Bewilderbeast are at fault here and you know that. They just used you as the tool to do it, to try and break all of us. Second, Stoick is _not_ dead.”

At first there was no reaction, and I feared Toothless had ignored me. But then, the dragon’s head slowly lifted up, finally looking at me in the eyes as his own widened, as if he was afraid to believe what I’d said. <What?> he blurted. I smiled slightly. “The blast did not kill Stoick,” I repeated. “Hiccup firing Framherja managed to detonate the fireball before it hit either one of them.”

Toothless moved to speak, but I held up my hand to say I wasn’t finished. “Now look, that doesn’t mean that he’s completely okay either. You know how strong electroplasmic explosions are; the blast still hit Stoick hard, and he’s fighting off a concussion in a coma right now, but he is alive.”

Despite the better news, Toothless still managed to deflate. <So I didn’t kill him, I just critically injured him,> he toned sourly. I sighed. “Toothless, everyone knows it wasn’t you. I don’t know how the Bewilderbeast managed to break through to you, but it was him and not you. The other riders reported their dragons going nuts during that period as well.”

<Then I should have been stronger than that,> Toothless retorted. <I should have been able to fight it off, to stand against it; I should have kept control of myself. I could see myself walking forward, could feel my own body moving against my will, so there must have been some way to stop it from happening altogether and I failed to find it.>

“Not if they were wielding some sort of black magic,” I responded softly after a couple moments. “But what happened, happened; much as we’d like to we can’t change the past, and I’ve already had a similar discussion with your brother about this same topic. What we can do, however, is prepare for what’s coming, and to do that we need our best duo together again.”

I scooted forward so that I was right next to Toothless, and reached up to turn his head to face me. “Toothless, I want you to go to the cove. I’m going to bring Hiccup there, because you two need to talk. He’s not mad at you, alright? He already admitted his outburst was misplaced, and he needs you right now.”

Toothless only huffed and turned away again, muttering, <I don’t see how he can’t be mad.> I rubbed my forehead in growing frustration. “The one thing he’s mad about is that he hasn’t been able to have you at his side like always, Toothless. Please, just talk to him. I don’t want to force you to, but it needs to happen and if I have to I will drag the both of you to the cove and seal it off until you make amends, and you know I have the capacity to do so.”

Silence ensued. Deafening silence. Finally, Toothless sighed and glanced over at me. <Alright, I’ll go to the cove,> he agreed reluctantly. <But if something happens at all, I am blaming you.> He turned and spread his wings, taking off from the cliff and gliding westward in the direction of the cove. I smiled slightly, and spread a pair of wings as well before dropping off the cliff in the opposite direction, gliding over the houses below to find Hiccup.

* * *

Hiccup didn’t really know how else to feel other than beaten down. Astrid was the only one who seemed capable of putting a smile on his face at all at the moment, while the rest of the village…well, if they weren’t actually busy preparing their houses and workplaces for the expected battle to come then they were following him like helpless ducklings, berating him with issues of this kind or that kind (usually unimportant) and giving him not even the slightest sliver of a moment to step back from it all for once and do something that might have actually helped calm him down. He suspected Stoick wouldn’t have heard of half these issues if he were still doing the job, as most of the village would have been too timid to approach the man with trivial things.

Heck, Hiccup hadn’t even had the chance to thank Hawken and Ember for stepping in and lending a hand to Gobber in working on the new armor suits for everyone (Hiccup had finally caved and shared the discovery of the Myscale with his former mentor, who was now using the compound very effectively for armor joints and the like). And, on top of it all, Mildew and the handful of other people in the village who were still less than friendly with the dragons had managed to catch wind of what had happened with Toothless and the other bonded dragons. Now they were doing everything they could to rile the village up and turn them against the scaled companions.

Hiccup, understandably, felt ready to explode, and when Mildew opened his big mouth in the village plaza again that afternoon, the only thing that kept him from taking it out on the old curmudgeon was the fact that Hawken showed up moments later and did so first, pinning the man to the wall of a nearby house and drilling him for a good five minutes straight about just how shaken the dragons were over the incident as well, and just how badly one of them had been hurt by it.

“….and if I hear even one more word out of your mouth about all of them being untrustworthy monsters just because of one incident were we were, I remind you, forced up against two alpha dragons likely equipped with the help of the sorceress who, may I also remind you, has access to the relics of a guardian of the family Asgard with untold power, I will personally hogtie you and hang you off the end of Raven’s Point, and leave you to the birds for which it was named! Do. I . Make. Myself. Clear?!”

Few people had ever seen the boy go off in such a way in public before. While Hiccup knew Hawken had a short temper when on his own and out of sight of others, he was normally reserved with an audience present. This only served to drive Hawken’s point home however, as Mildew like the others had only seen him explode under the stresses of the last battle with Jezebel. The man cringed, nodding meekly, and when Hawken let go of him he quickly scrambled away, grabbing his staff and making himself scarce. Then Hawken turned to Hiccup, who smirked a little as the former’s eyes faded from black to a more normal blue-green.

“You know, if you hadn’t done that I probably would have thrown him in the harbor instead,” Hiccup admitted. Hawken nodded, and then bent down, morphing Night Fury. “I know you’re busy,” he said, “but there’s something critical that you need to take care of, someone you need to talk to. So get on.”

Hiccup immediately felt both a spark of hope and a sliver of fear appear in his chest, but he chose to go with the former, knowing what Hawken would say otherwise, and stepped forward, climbing up onto Hawken’s back and holding onto the dorsal crests as they took off.

“Are you sure he’s ready to talk?” Hiccup asked cautiously. Hawken sighed beneath him. “Well, I convinced him to at least meet with you,” he replied. “Whether or not he thinks he’s ready, I think you both are. And this distance between you two is affecting you both severely, so it’s past time you at least tried to reconnect again.” Hawken looked back at his temporary rider with a slight smile, reassurance in his eyes. “Toothless needs you right now too, as much as if not more than you need him. He’s scared that if something like that happens again he will end up hurting or killing someone; he’s terrified it will be you. But I know that together the two of you are stronger than that, I’ve seen it before; somehow there is a way for you to help him. I don’t know how, but if anyone can keep him from being taken under again, it’s his brother.”

Hiccup had heard the reference of him and Toothless being like brothers before, but at that moment, after everything that had transpired the days before, it still gave him a bit of a surprise to hear the reference. In more ways than one, though, it made perfect sense. He nodded in acknowledgement, lips pursed together in thought as they continued flying.

The two of them soon landed in the cove, quietly, and after Hiccup jumped off Hawken turned and flew up to the edge of the cove, giving the two below him privacy while still watching to ensure nothing went wrong.

Hiccup took in a deep breath, steeling himself for what he knew would start out awkwardly, and looked around the space. His eyes soon settled on the drooping, dark figure of a Night Fury sitting dejectedly and waiting at the other end of the pond. Hiccup’s heart immediately leapt with relief, what with seeing Toothless for the first time in nearly three days, but then he noted the dragon’s appearance, and remembered how Toothless probably felt at the moment. He closed his eyes, took another deep breath and cleared his head before walking toward the Night Fury slowly.

“Hey,” Hiccup greeted quietly. Toothless flicked his ear at Hiccup’s voice, but made no move beyond that simple action. Hiccup deflated a little further, but pressed on. “Toothless, I…listen, I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m sure Hawken said that already, but I needed to say it to you myself as well. Look, even if everything had gone wrong, and I had lost my father in that battle, there’s no way I can hold a grudge against you for something you didn’t want to do, and you know that.”

Toothless didn’t answer, so Hiccup sat down on a rock nearby and continued. “Toothless, they used your fire, but it wasn’t you who took the shot; it was Drago and his Bewilderbeast, they’re the ones to blame here.” He reached over and placed a hand on Toothless’ flank. The dragon flinched at the contact, but luckily did not make the choice to do anything more.

“I…I know I yelled at you back on Dragon Island, and I know I said that I blamed you,” Hiccup admitted, voice starting to shake, “but I was unstable, I wanted a way out through my anger, I was hurt and I wanted something to blame. I took it out on you because you happened to be the first thing I focused on and I felt like there was nothing else I could lash out at. And I was wrong, so…terribly wrong.” He looked up at Toothless, and the first tear rolled down his face. “It wasn’t ever you, and after I realized what I’d said I felt like I had just stabbed myself. That’s a pain I can’t let go of now either, knowing I struck out at you.”

<But it was still me,> Toothless finally spoke, turning toward Hiccup, and the boy had to choke back another sob when he saw his dragon’s face. Dragons don’ cry, not very often. They only do so when they think they’re alone, or when around people they truly trust. Even then, they don’t cry unless they feel truly broken, so another pang hit Hiccup hard as he watched tears drip down Toothless’ scales as well.

<I watched myself do it, I felt myself move, and fire at both of you,> Toothless continued, voice cracking. <My mind was still there, I could focus my own eyes, not like when I was under control before you shot me down those years ago. But I…I wasn’t strong enough to keep it from happening. Hiccup, it was me, because I couldn’t stop it. I don’t see how you can even think of forgiving me, or even want me around anymore.>

“Toothless, it wasn’t you!” Hiccup implored, getting up and kneeling in front of Toothless. “I don’t know how they got through, but _they_ did, and I’m sure at least in part they made sure you could see what they were doing. Toothless, they wanted to break you, they wanted to break all of us, and they nearly succeeded.”

<But if they come back, and they managed to do it once, there is no way you can be safe around me!> Toothless cried. <If I can’t control myself then next time I could end up killing you, or someone important to both of us, and I could not live with myself if that happened!> The dragon shook his head and turned, standing up. <No, it’s better if I just leave. I can come back, maybe, after I know you’ll be safe, but->

“Toothless, I can’t live without you!!” Hiccup yelled, grabbing Toothless by his front legs. “Look, we’ve never been ‘safe’ around each other, heck I’m so clumsy that if you and Hawken weren’t around to catch me all the time I probably would have burnt down half the village again in the recent months! We broke you out of the Red Death’s control once, and I’m sure as long as the two of us stick together, we can figure out a way to break whatever curse the Bewilderbeast has too.”

Hiccup moved forward again and lifted Toothless’ chin up, looking the Night Fury straight in the eyes. “We both know that we’re stronger together than when we are apart; we always have been. Toothless, I will never, _ever_ let you go or give up on you, I will _never_ let you just get away from me. You are a brother to me, and I love you as much as any blood sibling could, and you are the best thing that EVER happened to me! Like it or not, we are stuck together until the day we both die of old age. We’re….” he paused as he tried to remember the word he’d heard both Hawken and Ember use before, “…we’re echad. We’re one.”

Silence returned to the cove as Hiccup waited for a response, watching powerful emotions roll through Toothless’ flickering eyes. Finally the dam broke, and tears came streaming out of the dragon’s eyes as he hung his head over Hiccup’s shoulder and wept. Hiccup leaned forward as well, wrapping his arms around Toothless’ neck as the Night Fury embraced him with a paw and curled his tail around the both of them.

The two stayed there, both of them releasing everything that had built up over the days past and crying as hard as they could, for an unmeasured length of time. Fears, worries, hopes, dreams, everything passed between the two of them without a word spoken. None were needed, as both Hiccup and Toothless found strength in each other once again, and the bond that had been forged between the two so many years before exploded into life once more, stronger than braided Mysteel and deeper than the oceans.

“I love you, bud,” Hiccup eventually whispered, a smiled breaking across his face. Toothless turned his head, catching Hiccups’ eyes with his own. “I love you too, Brother,” he replied, speaking in English so he was sure Hiccup would understand him, and they both started laughing.

“Look at the two of us, crying like dorks,” Hiccup giggled. Toothless didn’t reply, instead choosing to lick him, leaving a thick layer of spit on the boy’s face. “Ewwww, Toothless!” Hiccup groaned, trying to wipe off his face while still laughing. “That doesn’t wash off, you know that!” <Why do you think I do it?> Toothless teased, tail thumping in amusement as he guffawed. Hiccup snorted and wiped his hand across his forehead, throwing the spit that came off with it back at the dragon, who growled in mock anger and crouched, signaling an incoming pounce.

Hiccup immediately scrambled to his feet and ran, Toothless coming right up behind him and chasing the Viking around the cove. Hiccup laughed harder and turned, running for the water and scooping up a handful of the liquid, splashing the dragon with it.

<Oh, you’re soo getting it now!> Toothless snickered, dipping his tail into the pond and throwing it at Hiccup, soaking the boy. A moment of motionless, and then they burst out laughing again and continued splashing each other, making a mess, before Toothless pounced forward and turned their water fun into roughhousing.

Hiccup fell back, facing upward as Toothless stood over him and batted away with his paws. “Oh, and he’s cornered!” Hiccup joked, throwing mock punches at the scaled appendages that poked and prodded at him. “Dragons and Vikings, bitter rivals once again! It’s back and forth, but only one can win! Who will come out as the ultimate vic-Aaauuuhhhhhh!!”

Hiccup gasped as his breath was knocked out, Toothless collapsing with a grin onto his rider’s stomach. The boy laid there for a few moments, continuing to make odd noises as he tried to regain his oxygen supply, before Toothless scooted his head forward slightly and began licking him again.

“Augh! Stop! Stop it, Toothless! Ha ha, s-stop it!” Hiccup sputtered as he tried to fend off the slimy appendage that was the dragon’s tongue. Toothless paused only to bark, <You can’t get away this time!> before continuing the sticky bombardment.

Hours passed, and eventually the duo tired, lying in the cove against each other and staring at the sky with contented smiles. Slowly, Hiccup turned to glance at Toothless, expression one of relief. “Well bud, what do you say we head back to the village now, huh?” he queried. “We’ll get the rest of this mess cleaned up in no time, and find a way to kick Drago and Jezebel’s fat”-

<You don’t have to finish that sentence, and you shouldn’t, to know my answer,> Toothless growled back, grin fading slightly as a fire reignited in his eyes. Hiccup nodded knowingly and got up with the dragon, climbing up onto Toothless’ back as they aimed for the sky.

“Oh, and while we’re at it,” Hiccup drawled as they took off, “we need to find our other nutty ‘brother’ as well. We’ve been gone the whole afternoon, Lord knows where he probably went off”-

He was cut off as the sound of laughter followed them up into the sky, and they both turned to see a second Night Fury gliding up to meet them. “Oh, don’t tell me you were just watching the whole time,” Hiccup groaned. “The whole thing,” Hawken replied, chuckling. “But seems I didn’t have to tell you for you to figure that out. You thought I would really just skedaddle without making sure two of my brothers were okay?”

<One might hope that he doesn’t use the scenario as blackmail against us now,> Toothless muttered, earning another chuckle from Hawken. “No, no, there won’t be anything like that,” he reassured, his expression softening as he glided closer. “I’m glad you two have worked things out. Nothing is the same without the dynamic duo around; glad to have you both back.”

Hiccup could only smile at the heartfelt words as they turned toward the village. Perhaps things would be alright now; they were together again, and ready for anything else that could possibly get thrown at them.


	17. Calm Before the Storm

_It settles in your soul_

_It fills your waking thoughts_

_That knowledge that it’s not over_

_When all seems still and well_

_The mind holds captive knowledge_

_That danger will come again_

Another week and a half passed by, and not a sign showed of Drago, Jezebel, or the dark Bewilderbeast; not in person, or tales from traders, or “airmail” messengers. Some of the more inexperienced members of the village began questioning whether or not they would ever even show up again, but as for the elders of the village, the gang, and those skilled in the tactics of war we knew: Jezebel had something planned for a time to come, and Drago was biding his time as he waited for his ally to show herself.

The Meatheads and Bog Burglars showed up not long after Hiccup and Toothless had managed to mend themselves, and when informed of the incident with Stoick, both Mogadon and Bertha were deeply shaken. The man had a reputation throughout all the tribes, and knowing he was down for the count at that time put the seasoned chieftains on edge. They implored Hiccup, as acting chief, to contact the Uglithug and Peaceable tribes for assistance as well, as there was no telling what would come with the two formidable forces we were up against.

The last time the Hooligans had met with those two tribes, however, was nearly two years before, but when Hiccup sent out a Terror to each tribe with the request the reply was swift. Turns out, when the tribes arrived not four days later, the swift call to arms was due on no small part to two more of Hiccup’s old friends: Dogsbreath of the Uglithugs and…Heather, of the Peaceables. While I knew Hiccup and Heather had kept up contact over the years I had never known she was a member of one of the tribes proper.

Unsurprisingly, the village quickly became cramped with the presence of five separate tribes, full houses and makeshift tents abounding to accommodate the populace (and lots of fish runs to keep everyone fed). Hiccup became quickly swamped with the tasks that normally Stoick would have dealt with, racing around the village with Toothless at all hours of the day. Valka, luckily, knew enough to at least lend a hand and the other chiefs were mostly able to take care of their own respective tribes, but even then for nearly a week Hiccup and Toothless were running around the village trying to keep things tied up and in order (Toothless being able to speak with the villagers became a necessary advantage at this point).

I felt terrible for the two. With everything coming up there wasn’t much I was helpful with, other than continuing to help Gobber and Ember in the forge and putting an end to fights before they began, so I watched somewhat helplessly as Hiccup started running himself dry again.

Finally, it was enough: I decided the boy desperately needed a break. Back home, the Fourth of July was swiftly arriving, so I sent out calls to some of the friends who hadn’t been by for a while. When the day came, they all arrived with the requested supplies: Josh, Leighton, Sarah, and a few others I had managed to round up arrived right after I was done with work and helped me begin to put together a celebration in the cove. We had it all: food, drinks, games, and chairs and stuffed objects for relaxation. Took two hours to square everything away, but once it was all ready I ordered the others to find good hiding spots and then took off myself toward the village.

The other teens had been kept out of the loop up to this point (knowing Snotlout and the Twins couldn’t keep a secret to save their lives), so when I finally found them and let them know what was up, they were more than willing to help me drag Hiccup and Toothless away from the clamoring villagers. Ruff and Tuff provided the distraction while Astrid and I snuck the pair out of the village.

“You know they’re going to boil over at you for taking the acting chief out of the village in the middle of the day, right?” Hiccup muttered amusedly as we flew toward the cove. I snorted in response. “Oh? And what could they possibly do to me?” I asked rhetorically. “Besides, Phlegma, Gobber, and the other chiefs know well enough what they’re doing, and now that she’s back with a Stormcutter behind her no one’s going to cross your mother over her instructions either. If they can’t let you, the nineteen-year-old who’s been worn to a nub over the past two weeks, take a break then there’s another issue entirely that I will deal with personally when we go back.”

Hiccup sighed, but he couldn’t prevent the smile that wormed its way onto his expression. “Alright, I will admit that I’m glad you dragged me away,” he relented, “but what is it exactly that we’re doing here?” I chuckled and looked forward. “You’ll see.”

As we all glided in for a landing in the cove, the friends from back home stayed out of sight as I had requested, up until I gave the signal. As the rest of the gang hopped off their dragons and looked confusedly at the various equipment set up everywhere, everyone was suddenly surrounded by popping firecrackers.

“Aahhh! We’re under attack!” Tuffnut screamed, flailing his arms. “Run for your- what’s so funny?”

“SURPRISE!!” we all yelled, everyone jumping out from their hiding spots as we cracked up, taking in the startled reactions of the Vikings and their dragons. As the last of the firecrackers went off, I looked at Hiccup and saw the pieces finally click into place in his head. The genuine laugh that escaped him afterward made the whole thing worth it right then and there.

“Oh, oh I get it!” he exclaimed. “It’s that…uh…that one holiday you guys celebrate, with the fireworks and the parades!” “You know, we have a lot of those actually,” Sarah snickered. “But yes, it’s the Fourth of July, and while we’re all here we are going to make sure you guys have a little fun!”

* * *

The afternoon was filled with water and nerf gun fights in the cove, water balloon bombardments, firecrackers, smoke bombs, hot dogs and hamburgers, and anything else I had managed to scrounge up for the day (the cost of which I would have a major argument over with my parents, but that’s a different tale altogether). As an added bonus, the friends from my world hadn’t been around for quite a while so we all got in some bonding time that was sorely needed. Leighton and Sarah got into some deep conversations with Camicazi, Astrid, Heather and Ruffnut (the only time I’ve ever seen Ruff actually trying to be intellectual), and as Josh and Cameron helped me work the portable grill to cook the food, the conversation slowly turned into lighthearted teasing the eventually morphed into a game of tag that roped Sarah’s sister Hadassah and the other Vikings into the fun.

Such an activity is entertaining enough on its own, but it became even more so when Tuff and Cami started getting inventive in their tag tactics, and truly outrageous when the dragons finally managed to figure out a way to join in safely. The tension that had been building up around us over the past few weeks, at least for that day, finally melted off, and for the first time I saw everyone truly relaxing and enjoying themselves.

When evening came, and Leighton, Josh, and the others had to head home (following cleanup; none of the Vikings would have been happy if the cove had been left looking like a college party, Hiccup especially), I still had plans in mind. With limited space that I could carry people for, I took just Hiccup, Astrid, Ember, Cami and Thuggory with me to a second celebration of sorts. Some of them had gone with my family to the services and fellowships we attended in town before, but that night it was a little different, just family and friends taking time to play games and laugh. This was the 4th, though, so as the night wore on everyone gathered outside for the finale: watching the firework displays that went off all around us in the city.

As the colored fireballs exploded in the sky, lighting up the night in brilliance, I looked around with satisfaction, seeing all of my friends with smiles on their faces. Hiccup and Astrid sat off to the side in the grass, leaning against each other as they observed the panoramic display and perfectly content; my goal had been accomplished.

“Hey,” I heard off to my right, and I turned to see Cami wandering over to sit down next to me. I nodded back in acknowledgement. “Enjoying yourself?” I asked, and Cami laughed in response. “Yeah, I am. Truth be told we all needed to wind down a little,” she admitted, before glancing over at Hiccup and Astrid.

“I really need to thank you for what you’ve done for him,” she said. “And I ‘m not a touchy-feely person, you know this, so don’t expect these admissions to come often. But, I had feared what happened between him and Toothless would break him, and now with all the pressure from everyone he’s trying to take care of…”

Cami took in a deep breath. “I was his friend well before anyone else here was; I supported him when things went bad at gatherings, I watched his crush on Astrid grow and then turn into the relationship he’d wanted,” she chuckled at that, and I smirked as well; it was no secret how long Hiccup had held a flame for the warrioress. Cami looked back at me, expression turning serious. “Hiccup means a lot to me, and that he has so many people looking out for him now is something I had hoped for, for a long time. Please keep holding him up like you have been doing.”

I nodded in assurance. “You don’t need to worry about that Cami,” I replied quietly. “You’ve all become like family to me; I won’t let any of you fall if I can help it.” Camicazi smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder, before suddenly turning and hugging me full on.

Cami didn’t hug people often, so I sat there in shock even after she’d leapt up to go irritate Thuggory and Ember. Finally my senses settled, and I just shook my head in amusement, before looking up to the sky and adding a few fireworks of my own to the display.

* * *

Two days later after work, I found myself heading toward the forge again, to work on upping the Myscale production. Outside the door however, I caught two familiar voices coming from within, and waited to listen for a bit before I announced myself.

“Ye know ye don’t really have any excuses te visit so rarely nowadays,” Gobber drawled, pounding on something hard and metallic. “Ye have a dragon, yer always anywhere the other teens are, and ye are supposed te let yer mother know I’m stayin’ out o’ trouble, aren’t ye?”

“Yeah, I know, but if I start showing up more often, someone will figure it out, and I want to see how long we can keep this going. I mean, we’ve kept it up for 19 years already.” The reply came from none other than Camicazi, and it sounded like she was the only other person inside. Stormfly was nowhere to be seen, so I grinned, having an inkling of an idea where this was going already, and stayed behind the door. Sure enough, the next words out of Gobber’s mouth confirmed it, and I had to do everything I could to keep from bursting out loud in laughter.

“I still don’t think that’s any real reason te keep from visiting yer father,” Gobber muttered, “’specially since tribal feuds aren’t a threat any longer.” He put something into the cooling bucket and made the water hiss as if punctuating his sentence. “I only see ye maybe every couple o’ months, unless we have an issue up like we do now.”

“Fine, I know,” Cami admitted. “Alright, look, if I can catch Hiccup or Hawken in here at the right time, both of them if I’m lucky, and get a really good reaction out of them then I’ll let the secret out then and there, happy?”

Before Gobber could reply, I turned the corner and walked in, a big mischievous grin on my face. “Come on now Cami, you know such information wouldn’t shock me,” I announced, making both of them jump in surprise, Cami squealing like a third grader as a bonus. “But, I’m sure that we can arrange for a good laugh from Hiccup and the other teens!”

Getting over her shock, Cami pouted. “Hawken! Why is it that you always show up at the worst possible moments?” she complained. I chuckled. “Eh, it’s a gift of mine, always has been. Ask my mom sometime, she’ll confirm my timing skills. But, that info’s been a rumor running around with the movie fans for a while now, so it doesn’t surprise me.” I glanced at Gobber. “Though with a recent line from the last movie, most have put the theory to rest, what a shame. Come on you two, it’s easy enough to see the personality resemblances, not to mention your choice of hairstyles.”

“Well at least I still have all of mine,” Cami teased, earning a protest from Gobber. “But, please tell me you won’t just go blurt it to Hiccup and the others?” she begged. “I want to be there, and make sure that something funny happens while I’m at it.”

“Oi, Hiccup said he’d be comin’ in here tomorrow te help build the armor joints and such,” Gobber pointed out, pulling a cooled shoulder pad out of the cooling bucket. “He’s got nimbler fingers than me, so he’s better at piecing together those smaller bits. If ye have time, I know both o’ ye can come by.” He grinned mischievously as he set the pad down on his desk. “Might be the first time we get Hiccup te drop something on himself in years!”

I cocked an eyebrow. “So, every time something falls in here and I pop in to find Hiccup wearing a red face is what, then?” “Oh, he trips on stuff and knocks things over at a rate te fit his former rep,” Gobber admitted, “but I’ve nae seen him miss a mark with that hammer o’ his in years now.” He grinned again. “Be nice te hear someone else cursin’ over a flattened finger than meself fer once.”

And yet another similarity between Cami and her father. Now I knew the reason why Gobber liked the method of “learning on the job” so much. Anyway: we all decided to stay together at the forge the next day after I was done working. I would be there anyway, as would Gobber, and Cami agreed to help the customers coming by so as to appear like she was supposed to be there and not planning something, and we’d all wait for Hiccup to show up. Then, we’d let Cami choose the time to spring the mother of all long-running jokes.

* * *

“Hey Hiccup, you got a second?” Cami called over innocently after the latest Viking customer left the front window of the forge. Hiccup was on the other side of the forge, grunting as he bent an arm guard into place for Heather’s soon-to-be new armor set, hammering out the edges flat. Hearing Cami’s question, he paused to laugh tiredly.

“Cami, in case you haven’t noticed, if I did have second someone would be on their way up to me with some new village issue to straighten out,” he drawled. “Eh, I’m gonna tell you anyway,” Cami returned, sauntering over to the slowly growing pile or armor plates and Myscale joints soon to be fashioned into proper outfits. “It’s about my father.”

There was a notable pause in Hiccup’s hammering, and I glanced over from where I was melting the dragon scales. Hiccup had looked up in surprise for a moment, before slowly returning to the rapidly cooling Myscale he was working on. “Your father? You’ve never ventured any info about him before,” he said cautiously. “And I know the old customs of your tribe when it came to men.” He stopped hammering again and turned to look at Cami. “Why talk about him now?”

“Because it’s as good a time as any,” Cami said. “I mean, he’s here, I’m here.” “Your father’s here? Like on the island?” “Yeah, has been for a while actually.”

Hiccup cocked an eyebrow, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “Okay, have I met him before?” “You know him pretty well, actually.” “Don’t see how. Who is he?”

I had set down the scales as I covered my mouth so I wouldn’t spill them, desperately fighting back a laugh. Cami smiled faintly as Gobber walked back into the room with more Mysteel, and Hiccup returned to pounding the arm guard.

“Hiccup, Gobber is my dad.”

THUD!! “OW, holy SON OF A-!!”

Hiccup bit down on his tongue to keep from finishing his sentence, cradling his newly flattened thumb and staring wide-eyed at the two blond mischief makers in front of him. None of us could hold it back any longer, and burst out in hysterical laughter.

“O-hoh yes ha ha ha! It worked!” Gobber guffawed. “First time in years! Ye should’ve seen the look on your face!”

Hiccup just scowled as he continued cradling his thumb, looking between the three of us. “A joke? Is that what this was, a joke? Please tell me you’re just pulling some ridiculous prank on me!” he exclaimed. “Naw, but it worked as one!” Cami giggled. “Hehehe I can’t believe how funny that was!”

“You mean to tell me, that for nineteen _years_ you two have kept something like this a secret from the entire archipelago?” Hiccup blustered. “You kept this down just to pull a prank on us?!” Clearly he was still trying to wrap his head around the concept. He waved his hands in exasperation before his smarting thumb reminded him of its existence. “Ow, geez! Hawken, a little help? Okay, so sure _now_ I see plenty of resemblance between you two knuckleheads since I know about it, but how on earth did you hid something like _that_ for so long? Cami’s the Burglar heiress after all!”

Gobber continued to chuckle, holding his sides as the joviality slowly wore off. “Bog Burglar customs, mostly,” he explained. “Bertha wanted to keep our daughter’s origins a secret since way back when we weren’t all so peaceful with each other. After most o’ the tribes became allies it just turned into our own inside joke te see how long it would take fer anyone te figure it out.” He gestured at me with a snort. “Big surprise the know-it-all here managed te figure it out first, though it didn’t help that he walked in on the two of us talking yesterday.” “Yeah, ruined our fun there,” Cami pouted, though one glance at Hiccup’s expression brought the giggles back to her.

I smirked as I finally walked over to Hiccup and relieved him of the pain of his flattened thumb. “With the thousands of theories floating through the fandoms, like I said it wouldn’t have shocked me much, guys.” I glanced at Hiccup, who only gave a chuckle of disbelief as he turned to attempt working on the armor again. “Gee, you think you know your friends,” he muttered, “and then they throw something like this at you.”

Cami walked over to him and threw an arm around his shoulder. “Aw, come on Hiccup, at least you know our biggest secret now. We”-

“Hiccup, incoming!” Toothless’ yell interrupted whatever Camicazi was going to say next, and we turned to see the Night Fury skid through the door. “Snotlout accidentally knocked Dogsbreath’s best axe into a mud puddle, and they’re on the warpath. You should probably…” his words died off as he finally noticed Hiccup’s discombobulated expression and the grins on the rest of our faces. “Okay, what did I miss?” he asked cautiously.

“Toothless, did you know Gobber is Camicazi’s father?” Hiccup asked simply. Toothless’ head snapped up, did a double-take between the two blonds, and his eyes widened incredibly. “What? Oh, wow,” was all he got out before he fainted against the doorway, sending the rest of us into fits of laughter once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a notion I picked up from another fanfic (I don't know if the "Becoming" series is on here, but you can find it on FF at least), but Cami being Gobber's daughter is just too funny to use.


	18. Suspense

When things don’t start happening, the pressure of waiting builds up rapidly. Two days after Camicazi’s secret became public knowledge (the reactions of which were side-splitting), there was still no word of what we knew to come, and the relaxed atmosphere I’d helped provide for the team with the party was beginning to wear off. Tension was rising again, and it was starting to affect us all once more.

Snotlout had become crankier than usual, lashing out at people for the littlest of issues, and it had become Fireworm’s duty to pull him away before anything heated up too badly (ironic considering the kind of dragon Fireworm was). The twins were also becoming really rowdy. Up until that point they’d managed to mostly behave themselves, a shocking turn of events, but now they had pent up energy, and it was starting to leak out.

I caught the two of them behind Heather’s temporary dwelling, laying out some sort of contraption I couldn’t begin to describe. “You two realize she will hang you up by your toes off of Cliff Point if she catches you, right?” I quipped, causing both of them to yelp in shock as I materialized out of the shadows. “Yaahh! Aw, come on Hawken, we haven’t had any decent fun in weeks!” Tuffnut complained. I shook my head and grabbed both of them, dismantling their would-be prank apparatus in the process and taking off, gliding over the village with the two hanging from my paws as I searched for their dragon.

Barfbelch, to his credit, was doing his part of help set up a canvas-covered space for the other tribes to meet and eat when the Great Hall crowded over. The Zippleback occasionally tagged along in his riders’ mischief, but was far more level-headed by comparison. He looked up as I flared to land, and the expression on both heads immediately darkened. <Where’d they get off to this time?> the left head muttered tiredly. <Something behind Heather’s temporary residence, which has been dealt with,> I responded. <See if you can get them to direct their restlessness to something helpful for once.> I dropped the two in the dirt, letting the Zippleback take over before turning and heading for the chief’s house.

It wasn’t the first time in the past few days Ruff and Tuff had been caught. I’d witnessed on three separate occasions either Barfbelch or Toothless dumping the pair in the harbor, something the latter certainly couldn’t afford to be getting tied up with too often (probably why he just resorted to dumping them and calling their dragon). Hiccup needed the Night Fury, as fully half his time was now taken up breaking up the little quarrels that erupted between villagers and our allies as they grew restless. After all, they were Vikings who expected a war, and most if not all tribes in the Barbaric Archipelago were still working on getting over their general “shoot first, ask questions later” policy.

As I reached Hiccup’s house, I glanced off to the west. Evening was already coming, though at this latitude the sun stayed up for a very, very long time, and the sky was cast in several interesting shades of blue and orange. Focusing back on the house, I caught snippets of Hiccup inside, venting off to Valka. Thornado was resting on top of the house, keeping watch for his wounded rider inside, and Toothless was lying next to the porch outside, looking somewhat concerned.

<Seems like he needs a little space at the moment,> the dragon muttered. <It’s why I’m out here for now and not in there with him.> I sighed and headed for the door anyway, nodding to show I’d heard him. “Yeah, I know, but I think he probably could use both of us to keep him level-headed.”

I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside, Toothless rising to his feet and cautiously following. Valka was leaning against Cloudjumper, the two of them looking on toward Hiccup sympathetically from next to Stoick’s bed (which had been moved out into the main room so Sigrid and Valka could both check on him more easily). Hiccup himself was pacing fervently back and forth in front of the hearth, rambling away about the day’s troubles. When Toothless and I stepped in, all three of them slowed for a moment and glanced our way.

“Forgive me if I’m interrupting something important,” I said half-jokingly, stepping to the side and taking a seat by the table. Hiccup sighed and shook his head. “No, no, it’s just been a long day,” he said tiredly. “I mean, if something could go wrong, it already has. One of the armory beams was getting weak and cracked so we had to replace that, Angnar picked up a sword he thought was misplaced and it turned out to belong to one of the Peaceables which resulted in a fight, and this person thinks that person stole something, the other guy thinks this person isn’t pulling his weight, and throw in the twins running around riling up everyone in sight it’s just…ugh!”

He slumped down in one of the chairs next to me, and I chuckled, knowing how he felt. “Well, that’s the burden of leadership for you,” I reminded. “But you do have four chiefs that know what they’re doing and I’m not seeing you utilize that as well as you could. After all Hiccup most of them have been at it for at least a decade; you don’t have to do everything yourself.” I turned and looked at him in the eyes. “I know your father has mentioned the subject to you once or twice: delegate, and spread the burden. Everything does get easier and done faster that way.”

Hiccup sighed, closing his eyes for a minute before reluctantly nodding. “I know, I know, it’s just…I feel like if I don’t see to it personally, it won’t get done.” “I know that feeling well,” I agreed, “but there’s a point where you need to have a little faith. I dealt with the scouts for twelve years with the same issues, but sometimes things just have to be allowed to happen as they happen too. No one learns if it’s always done right the first time, after all. You of all people should know that well enough.”

“Oh, yeah, very funny,” Hiccup quipped, trying to ignore the faint laughter coming from Toothless and Valka at my jab. Hearing them I turned to Valka, before standing up and walking over to the bed Stoick was laid out on. I could see him breathing slowly, steadily, his head wrapped in bandages and the sprain on his arm still bound as well.

“How’s he doing?” I asked quietly. Valka sighed and placed her hand gently on Stoick’s forehead. “No real change,” she responded. “He’s still in a coma, but not in immediate danger of death anymore. If he at least keeps stable at this stage Sigrid says he should eventually come around.” She sat there, staring at her husband, before glancing up at me. “I never did really ask either: why weren’t ye able to heal him?”

I shrugged. “Honestly I wish I had a solid answer for that myself,” I admitted, sitting down at the edge of the bed. “The gifts I have are God-given, so if He has a different intention than I do, whatever I’m attempting just kind of…cuts off. It’s only happened once before that I recall well; Ember had to come around on her own. Stoick apparently has to do the same.”

I glanced toward the door. “On the beach I received the thought that maybe some healing takes time. Hiccup and Toothless needed their time apart before they could mend so this could be similar. Or, perhaps, the Lord wants us to focus on something else we have to learn right now. Maybe we have some growing to do, after all the easy path never results on a stronger character.”

I looked over at Hiccup, who nodded. “I just wish we could learn it in some other manner,” he muttered. I smirked despite myself. “I agree, but as one of my favorite songs puts it, healing comes through tears, and His mercies are often disguised. All we can do for now is wait and see, and be ready for whatever may come.” My gaze fell back on Stoick again. “We’re all still here, and I have no doubt we’ll get through this.”

“And we will all fight, Hiccup,” Valka added, standing up and walking over to her son, placing her hand on his cheek. He smiled wistfully at the reassurance and leaned into her touch.

Suddenly a frenzied knock sounded at the door, before it swung open, making all of us jump. Camicazi poked her head in, followed by Stormfly, both of them wearing the same anxious expressions. “Sorry if I’m interrupting a moment,” she apologized. “No, not at all,” Hiccup returned sarcastically before he could catch himself. Cami shot him a deadpan look, before continuing. “Ember just came back in from a scouting mission. Jezebel and Drago’s armies were spotted directly to the south of us, coming up through the archipelago straits. At the rate they’re traveling they’ll be at our shores within two days.” She took in a breath, and looked at us with great worry. “Oh and, uh, Ember reported that half the ships were not made of wood. They were stone.”


	19. The Sorceress Returns

_She stands a relic of a hateful art_

_She bears within the blackest heart_

_Kept aloft with magic spells_

_A mind of tricks, truth never dwells_

_Beware her hand and where it lays_

_Behind it death shall na’er delay_

To all of us it felt like a repetition of ill history, standing upon the bluffs and cliffs that surrounded Berk and watching death itself approach like a fluid machine. A grim determination settled over the faces of everyone surrounding me, and I glanced around at our makeshift army.

The team stood together: Hiccup and Astrid to my left, Ember and Camicazi standing to my right, and the others lined up behind us. Today we were joined in addition by four extra team members as well, who had been nominated by their tribes: Heather and her recently bonded Razorwhip named Windshear (something I would come to find amusing at a later date when the third season aired), and Dogsbreath stood near her with his Hotburple affectionately named Bruce. No, I’m not kidding about that name.

Most of us were clad in the suits fashioned from Mysteel and Myscale, those warriors around us who had not been able to be outfitted with the fancier versions decked out in the shiny, less mobile pure Mysteel outfits. All of us wore one thing in common however: the scowls of stoic courage in the face of danger.

“Remember, everyone stay off of their dragons if at all possible until the Bewilderbeast is taken down or out,” Hiccup warned. “If he can break through the rider’s bond, we can’t risk anyone else.” He looked at me as he said this, fear along with that famed Viking stubbornness clearly evident in his eyes. He would be the only one on a dragon, riding Toothless as the two of them took on Drago and the alpha. I had tried to convince them otherwise, but the two were determined to be the ones to break the hold. What had been said weeks before had taken root and I prayed nothing broke them this time. They did, however, have me as backup if it was needed, despite my own assignment.

A low roar echoed above us, and we looked up to see Valka glide down on Cloudjumper’s back from the mountains. “Gothi and the others are safely hidden,” she reported, “deeper in the caves than what you said happened last time. Stoick is also there, with Gobber as a guard. We’re ready.” We nodded, and faced forward again.

With the Vikings and dragons at least temporarily separated, I had another task as well before we faced off with Jezebel again. We all knew the island, and our enemy only had cursory knowledge from her one visit, so we could fight without having to see clearly.

The first vessels began to enter the bay, and I spotted the massive ripples in the water caused by the Bewilderbeast surging through below them, and I decided it was time. Dropping off the cliff, I morphed immediately into a dragon colored like the dark, gathering clouds above us, my skin etched in subtle swirling patterns, and I raced out over the village and surrounding cliffs.

Much like a Smothering Smokebreath, the Mist Dragon is a creature of stealth and hiding, but it has a far more effective weapon than the smaller Smokebreath. I grinned determinedly, and let out a long, slow breath, releasing a trail of specialized chemicals, immediately from which exploded outward a powerful reaction. The humid air condensed, and a thick, pervasive fog rippled out over the island, covering everything from sight and dropping visibility to almost zero. As I covered the land in mist, it billowed upward as well and out over the bay, cutting off any chance of Jezebel’s forces attacking effectively from any distance. As a bonus, I knew the fog would last for upwards of an hour or two without heavy winds, giving us a cloak for a long period of time.

A horn sounded from out in the bay, and I saw the ships enter the fog, heading for the docks. The Bewilderbeast showed himself, rising up out of the water and leaning in toward one ship in particular. Drago appeared, stepping from the vessel up onto the dragon’s tusk, and the two of them headed for the village as well, the swarm of enthralled dragons following them high above us in the air.

I dove into the mist, navigating to where we’d gathered, and landed next to Hiccup and Ember again. “Time to suit up,” I said, changing again to Night Fury. “Drago and the dragons are on the western side of the village, and the soldiers and their dragons mimics are coming up to the docks. Jezebel is still out in the main fleet somewhere, so I’m going to go find her and give a proper welcome.” I looked to Hiccup. “The Bewilderbeast is otherwise first priority, so if you absolutely need backup, call me. We take him out and we can be sure the dragons stay on our side; until then they’re a liability we need to avoid.”

Hiccup nodded in understanding and looked to Toothless. Silent words passed between the two of them, before they both nodded and Hiccup climbed on. A dramatic salute from the boy, and the two were off, disappearing into the fog.

“Cami and I are leading the fight in the harbor, right?” Ember asked. I nodded in affirmation. “And as soon as the dragons are safely with us the two of you go after the ships in the bay. Lead the twins out there were they can do damage freely.” I tried to ignore the not-so-silent sounds of triumph that followed from Ruff and Tuff, and continued. “The stone vessels might be a weak point, as there’s no way those are at all maneuverable, so if we take them down we might be able to cripple the fighting force. It does mean though that Jezebel has access to more of Aurianna’s old relics; we don’t know what we’re facing due to that.”

Ember nodded and brushed her hand against her bow, before grabbing her first arrow and nodding to Camicazi, the two of them heading off and leading a group of warriors down into the mist-covered village below, their dragons gliding as quietly as they could above them.

Seconds later the Bewilderbeast gave out a bellowing roar of anger, and I took that as my cue, hurling myself into the air and streaking toward the bay, looking for Jezebel.

* * *

Toothless pierced the fog without concern of running into anything, the high-pitched echolocating shrieks he emitted giving him the greatest advantage in the low visibility. Hiccup couldn’t see anything yet, but to Toothless the village-sized outline of the Bewilderbeast stood out clear as day ahead of them. The alpha was already aware of the smaller Fury, and already Toothless could feel the Bewilderbeast beginning to try and probe his mind. The bigger dragon hadn’t made his move yet, but Toothless knew it would come and he was determined to stay strong in the face of it.

Suddenly the mist broke open wide in front of the pair, an arena of clear air that had formed as the Bewilderbeast trampled up the cliffs, its rudimentary wings flaring for balance and sweeping the air clean. All four would-be participants in the upcoming struggle locked eyes, and the air stilled for a moment. Drago stood on his dragon’s forehead, grinning with a disturbing semblance of knowing something the other didn’t.

“I would try to normally say there’s a much better means of settling issues than all-out war, but you’ve already sided with the sorceress,” Hiccup yelled over to his opponent. Drago laughed in response. “So, you’ve come to accept defeat?” he sneered back. “After all, your dragon will not miss twice, the Night Fury’s dual gift and curse.”

The man didn’t get out another word before Hiccup and Toothless both fired. The twin charges fused and exploded against the side of the Bewilderbeast, making it stumble and roar in anger. Drago pointed his bullhook toward the pair, eyes darkening further. “Take the dragon, and kill the boy!” he ordered. The Bewilderbeast shifted its gaze beneath him, focusing on the airborne two almost immediately.

Toothless felt the force slam into his mind, a wave of will stronger than anything natural, and though once more he tried to fight the onslaught, bit by bit he felt his own control slip away, leaving him once more an observer within his own body.

“H-Hiccup,” Toothless barely rasped out, glancing fearfully up at his brother, and barely managed to shake his head in warning before his body involuntarily bucked and rolled, trying to throw Hiccup off so the Bewilderbeast could make the Night Fury fire at him.

This time, however, Hiccup knew what was coming and was ready for the fight, having already put Framherja in her holster and locking his grip around the handlebars of the saddle, holding tight so as not to be thrown. This time, he was not going to let go, not going to give up for anything.

* * *

Astrid slipped up against the wall of the Gunderson cottage and glanced around the corner toward Valka. The two of them were slowly leading the force that would cover the village during the war, infiltrating their own home and slowly getting into position for an attack. They had already heard soldiers and their twisted mockeries of dragons marching through or flying around the buildings, searching for their enemies, but of course thanks to the overlay of fog nothing could be seen, only heard.

For once, and Astrid was more than thankful, Snotlout wasn’t running his mouth, and the usually skittish Fishlegs was as silent and focused as the rest of them, reassured by his personal experience with the protection of the Myscale suit he wore. Slowly, they began to fan out into the upper section of the village, listening to the footsteps of their opponents and keeping out of visual range.

Astrid drew her axe in one hand, and her engraved sword with the other, slipping across the path and sidling up alongside the house she knew belonged to Hoark, listening to the soldiers who’d broken inside in their search. It was time, and with one nod to Hiccup’s mother, the signal rippled out through their ranks. Astrid turned and opened the back door, meeting the first soldier and taking him down without a sound and a single swipe of her sword before letting out a chilling war cry and spinning into a blur of blades and well-aimed kicks.

All around outside, Astrid’s cry was echoed by the other Vikings as they met their own targets, blades ringing out against each other as both forces, armed variably with forged steel and Mysteel weapons, took the first swings, the battle truly beginning in earnest.

Adrenaline pumped into Astrid’s veins as she flayed out the invaders she faced in the house before running out the ruined front door, following the village paths she knew like the back of her own hand and appearing seemingly out of nowhere in front of another startled mercenary.

This man was different however. He carried an air of unnatural confidence, and was decked in a differently styled outfit as if he were a general or leader of similar rank. He also bore a vest upon which were embedded a series of small stones, each one pulsing with a faint, unsettling light.

As Astrid took in this new surprise the man spun toward her, a great Mysteel blade sliding from its sheath at his side and carving through the air toward her. Astrid shook herself out of the trance and went into a ready stance, her own blade catching the much larger one and spinning it out of the way as her axe arced through the air toward the man’s neck.

The weapon never connected however, despite the man being completely open for attack. As the blade reached within a few inches of the man the gems on his vest reacted, exploding with light and a ripple of energy instantaneously surrounding him, a reddish glow flashing at the point of impact from the axe blade. The sharp edge was unharmed, but suddenly forced back as if Astrid had tried to strike granite with a rubber mallet, throwing the warrioress off balance.

The man grinned as he brought his sword back up, reveling in the look of shock on the shield-maiden’s face. She was familiar with the idea of force fields; Hawken used them on occasion, but this was the first time she’d seen it on anyone other than the boy or Jezebel.

“What, never seen a barrier field in action before?” the general taunted. “What a pity, you can’t do a thing to me. The reverse, however…”

There was no need to finish the sentence as he twisted the sword up and jabbed it at Astrid. She broke out of the shock just in time to deflect the attack, rolling to gain some space and whistling sharply. A roar sounded from above the two of them as Thorn revealed herself, showering the man with fire. The field blocked the flames themselves as the man leapt out of the way, however Astrid caught notice of him also yelping in pain as the air around him superheated, a red rash forming across his cheek and neck. She grinned herself now, knowing there was a way yet to beat even this protected adversary.

The dragons couldn’t be ridden, not yet, but as long as they had their own minds still they came in to help, and Astrid signaled her Nadder to fire again, point blank. This time the general didn’t have the space to move in time, and the flames poured around his flaring field for several seconds, the air within rising to an unbearable degree and painting severe burns across his entire form. Seconds later the man fell, rendered unconscious. Astrid smiled in triumph before leaping out of the way of an attack behind her and spinning to gut the unprotected soldier with her axe as he stumbled from the overshot lunge.

Another pair of mercenaries came around the corner, and Astrid turned to confront them but Thorn took the shot first, nailing both of them to the house behind them with a pair of spines. At that point, the two Berk residents were feeling rather okay about the state of things, and turned to move deeper into the village. Snotlout and Thuggory would be along the edges, Valka had taken a route into the heart of the village as well, and somewhere in the fog Bertha was leading her troops through as well.

Then, Astrid looked up to see Thorn falter in her flight for a moment, a squawk of fear released before the Nadder disappeared from view in the fog above. A chill ran down Astrid’s spine, before a burst of magnesium fire streamed through the air next to her and the roar of the Bewilderbeast echoed through the mist. The warbling, audible part of an Alpha’s power rent the air around Astrid, and at that point she knew. Crossing her blades, she recalled the tip she’d been told months before about taking out dragons without killing them, and as Thorn came by again Astrid rolled to dodge the hail of spines that came at her and then leapt up, catching her Nadder’s leg and swinging herself into the saddle, just long enough to hit the weak spot.

Of course, Astrid wasn’t the only one who suddenly noticed the tables turning. Ember screamed involuntarily as a shot of fire rocketed past her head, her hair glowing orange in response to the increased heat. She whipped around and spotted the ever-so-slight ripple in the air she’d been trained to detect, the one that told her the attacker was Orha. Now they had their own dragons along with the soldiers to deal with.

“Cami!” she yelled, the other warrior the only one close enough to see. The blonde turned to her, and Ember pointed to the fog above them. Flashes of familiar golden scales also appeared, and Camicazi’s eyes widened at the realization. Ember pointed to the base of her neck between her shoulders, before grabbing a blunt arrow and drawing a bead on Orha. When he flashed into visibility to fire again, she dove out of the way and spun when his back faced her, firing at the weak point.

Ember’s arrow hit home, and her friend screamed in a sudden shot of pain before collapsing to the ground, out cold. “Take them out of the fight; they’ll be up again in ten minutes or so!” she called to her partner. “Hopefully the Bewilderbeast can be dealt with by then!”

Cami nodded, before leaping out of the way as a soldier and his “dragon” came flying by. She swung her sword up and carved through the creature’s rider, before facing her own dragon, Stormfly, anticipating the Mood Dragon’s attack and leaping up her snout, cartwheeling down Stormfly’s neck and driving the pommel of her sword between the dragon’s shoulders. Muscles locked in pain and the Mood dragon, too, dropped to the ground.

“We need to get them out of the sky first, and then worry about the soldiers!” Cami said. Ember nodded in agreement and turned, racing through the streets with the Bog Burglar heir right behind her, slamming her hands to the ground and freezing a group of soldiers in her way before leaping up and grabbing ahold of Fireworm, the Nightmare targeting her own rider hiding along the edge of the village below. Ember climbed up to the Nightmare’s neck and fired the blunt again, point blank. Fireworm seized up and Ember leapt to a nearby roof, sliding down to land in front of a shocked Snotlout.

“She’s alive, just unconscious,” Ember reassured, answering his unspoken question, before disappearing into the fog again. Halfway into the village she almost ran into Valka, who was facing off Cloudjumper. “Ember, good you’re here,” the older woman said. “I need a distraction; the second he leaps I can bring him down.” “You know about the pressure point?” Ember asked. Valka snorted. “I lived with them for 19 years; I know most of their secrets at this point.”

Cloudjumper took to the air and the two split apart as the Stormcutter released a vortex of flame. Ember whistled and twirled her bow, gaining the dragon’s attention, and Cloudjumper dived in her direction. Valka took her chance and leapt from behind, her staff catching Cloudjumper’s wing and giving her purchase to vault onto his back. Then she slammed the flat of the staff tip between his shoulders, and the Stormcutter dropped, plowing across the dirt and flattening a pair of soldiers who had come up to take out the Vikings as they were distracted. Ember drew a Piffleworm arrow and loosed it, finishing them both off with one shot, before turning to Valka.

“If the Bewilderbeast isn’t dealt with we’ll just be fighting a downward battle,” she breathed heavily. “I hope Hiccup and Toothless knew what they were doing.”

* * *

She was standing on the ship in the middle of the fleet, the flowing robes and deceptively haughty appearance from before replaced with a tight shirt and cut pants that looked like they’d been woven from metal along with a leather vest studded in gems, and pockets and sheaths were scattered across her entire outfit no doubt filled with nasty surprises.

I stayed hidden in the fog, having kept the grayish colors on the Fury shape to stay blending in for now, and then came in low across the water. Gliding silently, I arced upward and rolled over the ship’s rail, preparing a fireball. 3…2…1…

SCHEWWW!! BOOMMM!!

A flash of angry orange light erupted as the flames flared out around the sorceress, and when the smoke cleared she still stood there, unmoved and completely unfazed.

“I hope you didn’t think I’d be completely unprepared for something like that,” she snickered, slowly turning to face me as I hovered over the deck. A pair of gems were flickering on the vest she wore, almost in tune with the fading field around her. “I underestimated you last time, and I don’t intend to make the same mistake twice.” “Neither will I,” I snapped back, folding my wings and dropping to the deck.

Seeing that I had no visible weapon in my grasp, Jezebel immediately unsheathed a series of small daggers and sent them flying in my direction, the air rippling behind them as they were propelled by black magic. My arms came up reactively, energy rippling out from them as well and exploding in sparks and smoke as the knives collided and were thrown back haphazardly. Not missing a beat I clenched both fists, spears of light exploding out through them as a pair of Mysteel swords materialized in my grip.

“I have a lot of new tricks up my sleeve,” I said. “You’ll find it hard to catch me without some preparation.” I swung the blades, metal singing through the air as they both turned into a blur to the human eye. To some concern of mine, Jezebel did not even flinch as I came at her, and when the swords neared her I found out why. Both blades hit the field and I felt them fly backward from the propelling force, the same orange light blazing as before. I staggered back from the sudden reversal of direction, eyes narrowing, as the sorceress smiled.

“Takes a lot more than that to break through a force field, you should know that by now,” she tutted, drawing her own sword. Mine dissolved again, as did I, black wings flaring out before fading into a semblance of smoke, and Jezebel swung straight through me as I went fully Shadow, sinking into the cracks and silhouettes cast on the ship.

Black ropes reared up around Jezebel and entangled her legs second later. The field could stop physical objects, but to pure dark matter and energy? It was laughable, posing little protection and far easier to get through.

Jezebel grabbed one of the tendrils and yanked, her hands radiating magic, but unlike last time I wasn’t pulled right out of the shadows. I felt the tug, and some odd, vague pain, but I had learned to ground myself, digging into the shadows and gripping the cracks and irregularities they filled around me.

We were at a momentary standstill. I was putting most of my energy into ensuring Jezebel couldn’t run, and she couldn’t pull me into a vulnerable state either, but she wasn’t completely defenseless. Moments later I felt a stabbing pain, as Jezebel had managed to slide out a small dagger from one of her pockets, and through her power had formed it to match my state, driving it into one of the shadow ropes that were wrapping further around her. I jerked the tendril away, allowing only a moment of leeway, before sending up more of the ropes and binding her arms and hands so that she couldn’t move. Much, at least.

“I can stand a lot of pain now,” I hissed, my head forming in front of her out of the shadows. “You should know that after last time as well.” Jezebel grinned, despite the dagger she’d jabbed at me now being held up to her face. It was inside the field, so there wasn’t much to stop it from being driven forward, yet the witch still held some secret.

“Personal pain, yes,” she admitted. “But the real weakness of any of you so-called heroes is in others. Anything can be thrown at you and you’ll endure it until your last breath, but go after your friends, the ones you love, and though you may fight valiantly at first watching them suffer and die will make you crumble, eventually.”

That’s when I noticed the buzzing feeling at the back of my mind. The last time I’d felt it was during the battle at Dragon Island, when the Bewilderbeast had broken through to the bonded dragons. I grimaced and shook my semi-materialized head, glaring at the witch.

“You really think that the same trick will work twice?” I hissed, bringing the dagger a little closer and leaving a line of blood on her cheek. “The people here are a lot stronger than you think. Even if the dragons are lost they still know how to fight, and they will no matter what comes their way. We aren’t a people who will give up.”

Jezebel started to say something else, but I was done talking. I turned and brought the dagger down toward her neck, hoping to catch her off guard. I honestly didn’t expect it to end that easily, and so I wasn’t surprised in the least when the air warped and the weapon slid off to one side, and I began to feel a pressure build as Jezebel began to attempt shoving the shadow ropes off herself with unseen power. A sudden burst of magic, and the shadows (and me, by extension) were thrown off completely, and I retreated back to prepare for another attack.

When the knife had slipped, however, it still managed to do some damage. I rematerialized, grinning, as Jezebel pulled out a sword from the scabbard at her side, completely unaware of the cracked and now useless mineral upon her shoulder.

“Let’s deal with this like real warriors, shall we?” I drawled, morphing back human and letting my two swords materialize again. Jezebel shrugged. “You can’t land a blow on me,” she replied nonchalantly, “so you’ll lose sooner or later.” “You put way too much faith in that knickknack of yours,” I shot back.

Jezebel didn’t reply, but she did draw out a second sword to match me and stood at the ready. Tension in the air built up thick enough to cut with our blades, but neither of us moved to take the first shot. We stood, sizing each other up, as the war raged on the shores nearby. Screams of dragons and soldiers echoed, and further off I heard the roars of the Bewilderbeast. Directly around us great weapons of stone and fire were being aimed and shot deafeningly toward the hidden village.

Suddenly, a daring soldier flew by on his mockery of a dragon and attempted to take a shot at me with the bow he held. I spun and released a bolt of electricity, the man and dragon screaming as it connected and short-circuited not only the vest the man as wearing but also both their nervous systems, sending the pair crashing into the water beside the ship.

Jezebel took the distraction and lanced the tip of her sword toward my midsection, but I was ready for the move. Both of my swords came down and crossed, catching her blade. I spun my arms and turned to wrench her blade away. Jezebel stepped back in time however and removed the weapon, before swinging the second down and around. I parried, swiping my other sword in her direction and up, but was turned away as her first sword slammed my blade to the deck.

Immediately however Jezebel was forced to duck as I swung with my other hand, the blade swiping over her head and turning to come back for her neck. This time, she didn’t lean back fast enough, and the tip sliced into the front of her vest, the broken gem sparking pathetically as what little energy inside tried and failed to produce the barrier field the witch was relying on. Jezebel’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before they hardened and narrowed again in anger. I grinned.

“You don’t have the skill needed to fix it either, do you?” I taunted, my split tail rising up and two more Mysteel blades appearing in the grip of each tip. My opponent snarled in response, and sent her blades spinning.

Nigh-indestructible metal clashed against its equal at a speed to make the air itself scream. Thrust and parry, swipe and backlash, uppercut and counter; for all my speed and more numerous blades Jezebel still had her 900 years of experience over me. Every move I made she managed to dodge, and her every move I blocked. Equally matched, the only way either of us would lose would be if one tired, or there was a distraction worthy of our attention.

That distraction came quickly enough, but it affected both of us. The buzzing in the back of my head suddenly disappeared, and a collective roar of defiance from hundreds of dragons echoed across the island. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted two things: a group of dragons flying down and away from the Bewilderbeast and heading our direction, followed shortly by riders from the island, and in a clear patch of fog the Bewilderbeast that was attempting to ground a Night Fury and his rider.

That’s where things went wrong.

Valka and Ember were both back on their dragons and in full attack mode, strafing the ships with fire and trailing Camicazi right behind them. A Mysteel arrow flew just barely past Jezebel’s face, forcing her to back up and attempt defending herself from the dragon riders, and this gave me a near-perfect opening. I nearly took it too, before I heard Hiccup scream, and Jezebel’s taunt came back to me.

_But the real weakness of any of you so-called heroes is in others. Anything can be thrown at you and you’ll endure it until your last breath, but go after your friends, the ones you love, and though you may fight valiantly at first watching them suffer and die will make you crumble, eventually._

Hiccup and Toothless had separated, Hiccup tackling Drago off the Bewilderbeast and dragging him to the ground, but now he was in the direct line of fire from the alpha, and Toothless was just too far away to take him out of danger.

“HICCUP!!!” I screamed, garnering everyone’s attention as I leapt into the air. But if Toothless couldn’t reach Hiccup in time, there was no way I could when I was half a mile away.

Time slowed as the Bewilderbeast fired, Toothless just barely grabbing Hiccup as the blast collided with both of them, slamming hard into and cratering the ground in front of a laughing Drago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Combining the events of Film #2 and the rest of the background of this story is sometimes tricky, but I think it pulled off fairly well here.


	20. Turntable

_The shifting grounds beneath our feet_

_They never for a moment still_

_Peace and tranquil for a fleeting pass_

_Then into turmoil they fall_

_Holding on is a fallen dream_

_To ride them a deadly choice_

_But there is no other way to turn_

_We ride them with frail hope_

“Toothless, focus! You’re in there, and I know you can hear me, you can fight this!” Hiccup yelled.

The Night Fury nevertheless continued to spin and buck, his body at the command of another. Hiccup grimaced and gabbed tight to the saddle, focusing directly on his friend’s forehead.

“Toothless! I am not letting go, so don’t you dare do so! You’re my brother as much as any could be; you’ve saved me so many times I can’t count it! You’re strong enough to beat this!”

Toothless whined slightly, the only action of his own that could escape, unable to do anything further as his body disobeyed his mind. The ringing call of the Bewilderbeast echoed around them, pulsing through his head and drowning out nearly everything else, and the Night Fury couldn’t break through the flowing river of willpower. He tried to shake his head and barely got an ear to twitch, could barely hear Hiccup even though the boy sat on his back.

There was one message that stood out however, one thing Toothless was beginning to hear more clearly than anything else.

“You. Are. My. Brother, Toothless!” Hiccup urged again. “We’ve got the same spirit, we support each other. You would never do anything to hurt me, you’ve said it yourself, or Stoick, or any of our friends! Think about when we met in the cove! Think about when we met Hawken; think about everything we’ve done together!” He leaned forward as much as he could, speaking right into Toothless’ ear.

“Toothless, we made a bond, between all of us. We’re a team, strongest together. We’re…we’re echad, we’re one! I know you’re strong enough, if I’m strong enough, and I know I won’t let that bond break! I won’t let you break!”

_Brother…One…Echad…_

Something cracked. He didn’t know how exactly, or what, but something gave way. The external will shuddered, and instead memories of the past years raced through Toothless’ mind, all the times he, Hiccup, and the others had spent together and all they’d accomplished before. A new strength flooded through the dragon, and the overwhelming buzz and warble emanating from the Bewilderbeast began to dull until they became no more than a background noise as his eyes widened under his own power, and his body stilled at his own command.

Then Toothless’ eyes reversed, narrowing in anger and determination, and the warning scream of the Night Fury rent the air.

Hiccup yelped as Toothless suddenly leveled out, and then dropped into a dive straight toward the Bewilderbeast.

<You have nothing, you worthless worm!!> Toothless roared, the wind screaming in that famous shriek as he loosed a fireball, catching both Drago and the Bewilderbeast off guard and sending roiling flames across the dragon’s face. The alpha screamed in pain as Toothless turned away, glancing back up at Hiccup with a grin bearing a growing confidence.

<We can finish this,> he said, and Hiccup laughed with relief. “Told you that you could fight it!” he exclaimed over the wind. “Brothers don’t give up! Come on, we need to find out what’s causing the control overload; there’s no way it’s natural. Knock it out and we’ll at least have the bonded dragons back on our side!”

Toothless nodded in agreement, and then pointed with his paw toward the massive dragon. <The call has elements of sight, sound and mind, mostly mental. If there’s something enhancing it that we can remove it will probably be situated near the eyes or- WHOA!>

He banked, narrowly avoiding a shot of ice and then the ensuing flurry of enthralled dragons sent toward them by the Bewilderbeast, before circling around under the alpha’s neck. As the pair turned, coming up on the other side of the dragon, the clouds above the scene shifted, just enough for a ray of sun to shine through.

Both Hiccup and Toothless saw it when something caught the light, glinting like a shard of polished glass right at the base of one of the Bewilderbeast’s head spikes.

“There!” Hiccup yelled, pointing. Toothless nodded. <Yeah, I see it! Is it just me, or does that thing remind you of Shadow Dragon fire?>

The Night Fury had a point. Though rather well camouflaged against the dark scales, once you spotted the gem it was impossible to miss: black as obsidian, and while other gems the pair had seen tended to spark or glow with a visible light when active, this one did act like Shadow fire, a visible glow present but at the same time seeming to darken the air around it, sucking in light.

<Hold on tight,> Toothless growled. <He’s not going to let us take that shot easily, so we’re going in at a steep angle.> Hiccup nodded, and though the Myscale straps attaching him fast to the saddle were nearly impossible to break, he grabbed firmly to the handholds on the saddle again. Toothless’ eyes narrowed to a singular focus and, once they banked hard again to lose the Bewilderbeast’s line of sight, he dove, hard and fast. The enthralled reptiles around them couldn’t keep up, and the air screamed as the Night Fury built up speed and the fuel for his shot. The Bewilderbeast heard the warning shriek and he turned his head to try and take down the smaller dragon, inadvertently giving Toothless exactly the angle he needed.

TZZZEEEWWWWW!!! BBOOOOMMMMM!!!

The fireball scored a direct hit, and the facet the gem was mounted in cracked from the energy overload, exploding spectacularly. A blinding light rippled outward as the metal shards flew in all directions, some embedding directly into the Bewilderbeast’s side and sending him staggering from more than just the explosive force. Hiccup noticed just out the corner of his eye the gem go flying, no longer of use to the alpha, before the Bewilderbeast roared and swung his head.

Toothless had predicted the angle both of any retaliation as well as the still-expanding fireball that came up toward them, and his wings flared as he sent himself and Hiccup into a very, very hard turn. The double row of spines on his back, discovered when Hiccup had returned from Tohar’s home, extended and snapped out, catching the air and letting him bank in nearly a 180° arc, barely avoiding the flames and disappearing into the remaining fog nearby.

The effect of the attack was nearly immediate. All across the island roars echoed as the bonded dragons found themselves under their own power again, and the noise in Toothless’ mind, the force he’d driven back, disappeared entirely. The other dragons however, those who had never acquired a rider, still swarmed angrily above the alpha, who immediately attempted to use them again to his advantage, shielding himself from the Night Fury who’d broken the control that was supposed to be all-encompassing. Drago, too, was understandably beyond furious.

“BOY!” he bellowed toward the fog. “How dare you! I don’t know how you broke out, but you will pay for this! There’s only so much you and that speck of a dragon can do against the true alpha, only so long you can hide!”

“SPECK?!” the enraged reply came almost immediately, echoing out of the mists surrounding Drago and his dragon. The man turned, eyes scanning the area as he failed to pinpoint where the roar had come from. It helped none that the Bewilderbeast himself took up nearly all the open space, and the raucous calling of the dragons above blocked out any noise the Strike Class dragon would have been making.

“Silence them!” Drago ordered, pointing toward the enthralled dragons, the Bewilderbeast swinging his gaze up just long enough to make the noise cease save the beating of wings, but even then, there was no telling where their rivals were.

Hiccup and Toothless, however, knew exactly where Drago stood, in plain sight at the base of the Bewilderbeast’s tusk. The two of them were already forming a new plan, reckless but just possible.

A fireball erupted from the mist, racing right over Drago’s head and forcing him to duck, before he drew his focus to Toothless who suddenly followed right after his warning shot, swooping upward and banking away, taking Drago and his Bewilderbeast’s attention with him. He hung upside down, turning his head and leering a grin at Drago, before dodging the blast of ice that followed him.

As Toothless had turned, Drago immediately noticed something that concerned him: the Night Fury’s saddle was empty. Too late, he turned in the direction the dragon had first appeared and swung his bullhook upward. But, the falling form of Hiccup was faster, the boy angling himself to catch Drago right in the chest with both feet, throwing the pair of them off the Bewilderbeast’s tusk and tumbling to the ground below.

Hiccup pushed himself away from the man and curled himself, presenting the Mysteel plates on his arms and knees so that they hit the ground first and absorbed most of the impact, letting him roll effortlessly back to his feet, unharmed. Drago hit the dirt a lot harder, his bullhook flying from his hands and his form plowing a deep trench across the soft ground of the hill. He groaned and rolled slowly over as Hiccup came to stand over him, drawing Framherja from her holster and aiming it at Drago’s head.

“Call him off and I might let you live,” Hiccup threatened, gesturing to the massive dragon who still had his attention on the Night Fury above them. “Your part in this fight ends now.”

Drago looked up at Hiccup in slight surprise, before giving a grin and standing up, backing away. “Or maybe it’s only just starting,” he replied, and gave a raspy yell.

A shiver ran down Hiccup’s spine and his eyes widened as he spun around to look up at the Bewilderbeast. Drago’s call had pulled the behemoth’s attention away from Toothless, and now it was focused on something far more immediately threatening to his master’s survival. The dragon drew in a breath, preparing to fire.

<HICCUP!> Toothless yelled, noticing the change in the Bewilderbeast’s gaze, and he dove. “Oh no,” Hiccup whispered, knowing there was no way he was going to move in time. A flash of black caught the corner of his eye along with the roar, and instinctively Hiccup yelled, “TOOTHLESS!”

The Night Fury was already on his way, powering his wings as fast as he could go and trying to get to Hiccup first, but it was already too late to avoid the attack. The jet of ice exploded from the Bewilderbeast’s mouth, and as Toothless grabbed Hiccup, embracing the Viking in his wings, he felt the crystallizing shot slam into his back.

The force drove both backward and deep into the hill. An explosive crack thundered out as the ice drilled a crater into the ground and spread out in a sharp, sinister fashion. As it settled, a deafening silence pervaded the scene.

“HICCUP!!”

Drago turned to see three figures suddenly racing his way in the distance, through an open path in the fog from the sea: the vigilante woman from the north whom he had faced before on top of her dragon, and another Night Fury that he assumed could only be the boy that he had confronted on Dragon Island. He chuckled as they all raced right past him, completely ignoring his presence as they landed by Hiccup and Toothless’ frozen tomb. After all there was nothing they could do now, and it was already over as far as Drago was concerned. Nothing survived a direct shot like that, not even a Night Fury.

Valka leapt off of Cloudjumper and raced to the ice, slamming her fists into it and barely chipping the ring of spires that encircled the central impact site. “Hiccup! Hiccup, no!” she sobbed, sliding to the ground in despair. She had only just regained the chance to gather her family together, and now, for the second time, it was gone.

Next to her, Hawken slowly morphed back human, staring stone-like at the ice. He too knew how deadly such a direct shot would be. Unlike the film he and the others had watched several weeks before, the force this had been applied with could not have been survivable; nothing that made a crater could be escaped from.

The boy turned slowly to face Drago, and the man immediately noticed the boy’s eyes darkening from a cold ice blue to black. In his hand, a Mysteel sword materialized, crackling with energy. The Bewilderbeast leaned forward again and released another jet of ice to protect his master, but the boy merely raised his hand and the shot vaporized into steam from the electricity that raced off the outstretched appendage.

Suddenly, Drago felt his momentary victory turn into an impending defeat as Hawken raised the sword in his direction. “You…first you nearly killed Stoick the Vast, and now you’ve removed his son and dragon, two of my closest friends, my _brothers_ , from this world,” he hissed. “There is no time left for you on this earth either.”

The boy raised the blade, and lightning crackled along the metal. Drago had seen Mysteel in action before, and without Jezebel nearby to stop the boy or the Bewilderbeast in a convenient position this time, he knew he stood no chance. Drago stood tall however, defiant to the last, and stared death in the eye as the sword came down.

That was when it happened.

tsssseeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR!!!

A sound, absolutely impossible to mistake, drew everyone to a stop, eyes turning to face the miniature fortress of ice. Deep within, something was beginning to fluoresce, growing brighter by the second in time with the rising noise and lighting up the ice. Valka’s head snapped up, disbelieving for a second. Then, as her eyes widened in realization, she scrambled to her feet and backpedaled as fast as she could away from the ice.

Hawken, too, felt the vibrations of energy pulsing out in waves, and flew back to take shelter behind a boulder, not a moment too soon. The whistling shriek reached a climax, drowning out the audible cracks as the ice strained against some internal force, and an explosion rivaling a small bomb ripped outward from the crystalline structure, nearly vaporizing it and throwing shards of ice in all directions, the concussive sound alone throwing the unprotected Drago on his back again.

Only when the steam began to clear did anyone dare to look. In the middle of the blast zone, lying in a deep depression surrounded by the remaining ice, was Toothless, his wings and tail still wrapped protectively around his rider but his head lifted and glaring out, eyes wide in seething fury. Down his back both rows of crests were fully extended, and the scales on and around them were fluorescing a piercing electric blue.

As he uncurled, Hiccup stood up shakily, but incredibly unharmed, and he watched as Toothless turned toward the Bewilderbeast and screamed, a piercing sound that made even the alpha wince and shudder, before letting loose a fireball that raked across the bigger dragon’s face, leaving twisted, smoking scales.

Toothless turned to his brother, eyes softening for a moment. “You okay Hiccup?” The boy nodded slowly. “Yeah, I...I think so.” Toothless nodded, and then turned, wings flaring and thrusting downward as he rocketed into the sky, letting out another scream filled with threats and challenges echoing around the Bewilderbeast as he reached a speed that left him little more than a blurred dot highlighted with sapphire.

Both Valka and Hawken ran forward to Hiccup, the former embracing her son hard as he watched, stunned, as his draconic brother went head to head with the alpha. The latter knelt down, examining the ground where the pair had been hit, before letting out a laugh of disbelief.

“Good Lord Hiccup, you two have the most incredible luck I’ve ever seen!” Hawken exclaimed. “The one spot on this hill with a sinkhole under it and you hit it!” He laughed as he stood up, hugging Hiccup as well.

Hiccup’s attention of course was still on Toothless. “W-what’s he doing?” he stuttered. Valka looked at him, then followed his gaze to the Night Fury raking the Bewilderbeast with devastating flames high above them. “He’s challenging the alpha,” she half-whispered. “Most smaller dragons don’t have the capacity; he’s taking him on to defend you! I’ve…I’ve never seen anything like it!” Hiccup nodded absently, still in some shock, before his thoughts began to collect and he turned to Hawken.

“Go take care of Jezebel,” Hiccup said, before leveling a glare at Drago. “I think we have this covered now.” “You sure?” Hawken queried uncertainly. Hiccup nodded, taking a step out of the hole in the ground, and Hawken stalled for a moment, before whirling around and taking off, though not before his tail lashed out and added another scar to the multitude already covering Drago’s face.

Valka glanced at Cloudjumper, who also nodded toward the bay as well, and grasped her son’s shoulder. “Hiccup, are you sure you can handle this?” she asked, her fear for her son evident. Hiccup looked at her straight on, and then looked up to Toothless. The Night Fury wasn’t even giving the Bewilderbeast the time to turn his head to defend himself, and as the behemoth’s concentration slipped the enthralled dragons above them began to break from the swarm.

Hiccup grinned and nodded again. “Yeah, I’m sure we do.” Valka pursed her lips and stepped back for a moment, before tuning and signaling to Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter leapt into the air, and as Valka grabbed her staff, she swung it upward and caught her dragon’s claws, vaulting herself upward onto his back, the two racing back toward the bay to wreak havoc on the ships.

Hiccup looked down at his feet, and picked Framherja, which he’d dropped in the ice attack, up out of the debris. Then he turned to advance again on Drago.

“I almost feel sorry for you,” he drawled. “You control an alpha species, yet you got creamed by one boy on Dragon Island. You had a lucky shot at Toothless and I, and we hit a safe spot on the hill and you only managed to tick the both of us off even further, which I honestly didn’t think was possible, but,” he gestured at the glowing Night Fury to emphasize his point, then lifted Framherja up. “And now, Toothless is right on the verge of winning the fight against your Bewilderbeast-he’s already broken the other dragons out of thrall”- as if to punctuate the statement a very familiar, oversized Changewing swept by to take a shot at an incoming soldier, sent to help Jezebel’s ally, “-and I haven’t even given you your due yet for your attempt on my father’s life, or that Night Fury skin on your back.”

Formalities suddenly over, Hiccup drew back on Framherja and released the string. Drago barely had the time to dodge the crackling bolt that followed, causing a small landslide behind him, and then the man turned to run and stumble down the hill toward his Bewilderbeast, Hiccup in pursuit just as quickly but with all the patience in the world now.

The readers may think this would be well outside Hiccup’s personality, something he would never have acted like, but war is a terrible thing. Years of having to fight people who want nothing more than to kill you tend to change the battle-ready mindset. Hiccup would always be the clumsy, awkward, sarcastic dork on his own time, but with his entire island at stake and having just stepped out of a near-death experience for the nth time his kind, optimistic side had been put in check.

Toothless, meanwhile, had already more than proven his own point. Hovering directly in front of the massive Tidal Class dragon, his scales still glowing in a brilliant stamp of warning and power, he had completely broken off the Bewilderbeast’s control. Now, the island’s dragons gathered behind him, a new and better-coordinated swarm blasting the Bewilderbeast with their own fire. The big dragon was nearly at breaking point already, barely able to even meet the much smaller Night Fury’s eyes.

<You listen and you listen well,> Toothless hissed. <Hiccup is my brother; he means more to me than ANYTHING else on earth. Anything that threatens him forfeits their life!>

The Night Fury’s wings snapped out dramatically and, to finalize his point, his scales flashed blindingly bright as he released another blazing, overcharged plasma flame. The charge hit directly at the base of the Bewilderbeast’s left tusk, exploding in a brilliant indigo flash. The searing heat and force cracked through the dense ivory, and the severed tusk fell to the rocks below with a deafening crash.

The damage was done. Injured and humiliated, the great dragon let out a pitiful whimper as he backed off, glancing submissively at the Night Fury who had just usurped his position. <This is MY HOME!> Toothless shrieked. <NONE will take that from me! NOW LEAVE!>

The declaration echoed across the island, and the Bewilderbeast cringed, turning and diving with a great splash back into the ocean. The dragon was loyal to his master, but a lifetime of pain and intimidation would never be as strong a hold as a bond of trust and friendship.

Drago skidded to a halt upon the falling of the Bewilderbeast’s tusk, and looked on shell-shocked as his winning strategy bowed before a dragon less than a hundredth its size and disappeared into the waves. His mind lingered not on that for long however, when he heard the Night Fury land behind him next to Hiccup, still glowing and still beyond angry.

Drago turned to face Toothless and Hiccup, the latter still holding Framherja point blank at the man. Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but never got the chance. During the fight the hillside they stood on had been beaten and made unstable, and the ledge Drago stood on finally couldn’t hold anymore and gave way under him. Drago reached out with his good arm desperately as the rocks around him crashed down the cliff below, barely catching the crumbling face of the rocks and hanging above the turbulent waves.

Hiccup scrambled forward and looked down over the edge. His better side resurfaced again upon seeing even his enemy helpless in the face of immediate danger. “Drago!” he yelled, reaching out his hand. “I won’t strike someone who can’t fight back. You still have a chance, you can help us. It’s never too late!”

Drago looked up at him, a perplexed expression crossing his face. His target was giving him the chance to live? Was he really that soft? “Take my hand,” Hiccup continued. “I can help you up if you choose to help us!”

For a mere moment the tension in the air lessened, and as Drago seemed to consider the option a sliver of hope entered Hiccup’s thoughts. Then Drago’s eyes hardened. “Never, would I accept help from the likes of you,” he snarled, and released his hold on the ledge.

Hiccup froze, unable to move or look away, as Drago fell more than a hundred feet, slamming once hard into the cliff side before landing even harder in the turbulent and unforgiving ocean. Few could possibly survive such a fall, and with his metallic left arm weighing him down Drago would surely drown if he wasn’t dead already.

It was over, and Drago Bludvist would be no more.

Hiccup flinched when Toothless nudged him gently, before the boy turned to his brother. <There is still a war going on,> Toothless said softly, scales no longer glowing as he calmed. Hiccup grimaced at the thought and closed his eyes, before nodding. “I know, but it never gets easier,” he muttered. “Alright, let’s go help Hawken and the others.”

* * *

Camicazi and Ember had seen Hawken race off after Hiccup, but with Jezebel still at large they couldn’t take off to help either. Stuck against the sorceress, it took them along with Fishlegs on their dragons to keep her distracted enough to hold her to the ship. It didn’t seem like the witch had any interest in actually being on the island this time, however, instead perfectly content to direct her forces from afar. But with the village still fully under the hands of the Vikings, Ember knew she was looking far too content to not have something still to unleash on them.

A wall of electricity slammed into the sorceress, hailing Hawken’s return, and the shock (pun intended) bought enough time for Ember to call out, “Everything okay? What happened?” “What happened is the Lord is watching out for us, and don’t ever piss off Toothless again or you’ll regret it!” Hawken yelled back, grinning before he landed with a BANG! on the deck of the ship and focused on Jezebel. “Take care of the other ships! I’ve got this again!”

Ember gave a thumbs-up and signaled the others, taking off over the bay as an explosive battle rose up between the two on the center ship behind them.

The men on the stone vessels swung javelin launchers and net traps in their direction, but a single shot by Ember took out three of the machine operators, Piffleworm venom acting almost immediately as the arrow flew through the air. Camicazi in turn leapt off of Stormfly and landed on the deck of a ship full of waving swords and turned into a blonde-topped blur. The Mood Dragon’s scales flushed a deep blue as she skimmed around her rider, plowing through the lighter-built war machines.

Ember smiled and shook her head in amusement as Camicazi went about her business, before angling Orha toward another ship, sliding off the Shadowracer as he faded out of view to launch surprise attacks. Ember pulled up her bow and nocked another arrow, getting ready.

A soldier rushed her and she sent the arrow flying, point blank. Mysteel cuts beyond easily, and so the projectile continued past the first and took out a second man behind him, before finally lodging deep into the stone railing of the vessel.

A loud yell turned Ember’s attention in a new direction as a third man came leaping toward her. She didn’t have the time to load another arrow before he swung the sword in his hands, so she swiftly ducked under the blade and slammed her hand out, catching the man directly in the chest. Ice swept out and overtook his armor, freezing the metal and leather solid and locking him in place. Ember stood up and glared him in the eye. “It’s a bad idea to play with fire and ice; this is what results,” she growled, pulling out an arrow and making a scratch across the soldier’s cheek. Seconds later and he was no more.

Ember loaded the arrow and prepared to loose it into the stairwell leading down from the deck nearby, when a shadow glided above her and claws pulled the young woman up into the air.

“What the-!” she exclaimed, looking up to find Orhaganuz holding onto her tightly. “Orha, what on earth are you doing? I wasn’t”-

“You don’t want to be on that deck right now!” he growled back. “Does the word ‘twins’ mean anything to you?”

Ember closed her mouth to process this note, and twisted back to look down at the ship. As if on cue a loud rumble emanated outward as something…the only word Ember could think of was something _erupted_ inside the vessel, and the stone deck heaved upward before rapidly collapsing inward, flames shooting out of cracks in the ship’s sides. The men onboard screamed as they fell along with the collapsing hole or leapt over the sides into the unforgiving sea.

Not seconds later Ruff and Tuff appeared on Barfbelch, grinning like maniacs as the ship lost its floating power and dropped like the stone it was beneath the surface of the bay. “So, fill small spaces with flammable gas and light it, and it creates a really big boom!” Tuffnut noted, donning an oddly English accent. “If this is what they call science then we must experiment more, shan’t we dear sister?” “Very much so,” Ruffnut agreed in a mimicking accent. “Ta ta! Must be off to blow more things- Ember look out!”

Ruffnut’s scream took everyone’s attention behind Orha and Ember, whose eyes widened. “Orha, up! UP NOW!!”

Orha powered his wings upward and flipped around in a hard bank, just as a massive boulder came flying through the airspace where they had been. Orha flipped Ember up so she landed back in the saddle, and Ember quickly strapped in so she could fire while flying. Not that it mattered when she saw where the boulder had come from. Or, more importantly, _who_ had thrown it.

She was clad in a suit of Mysteel more effectively crafted than anything even Hiccup had come up with, her arms and sides riddled with gems and facets of every imaginable kind. She bore a long, immaculate crop of flowing dark blond hair bordering on red, framing a face radiating an expression of dangerous experience and topped with an equally crafted helmet, and around one hand was a band pulsing with a chilling energy.

The woman twisted the hand with the glowing band, and in turn the levitating boulder behind the riders swung in its path, turning and coming in for another shot. Orha instinctively fired, and the boulder exploded, falling away uselessly in a cloud of shards, before he and Ember turned to face the woman again.

She didn’t seem to be too terribly disappointed by the loss of her weapon, however, and as she waved her hand again the reason why showed. This time multiple stones came flying up off the deck of the ship she stood on and circled in the air, spinning around her in a slow vortex.

“Stand down and we might let you live!” Ember yelled, signaling Fishlegs and the twins to come around behind their adversary as she nocked another arrow. The woman only laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t do that. You present a threat to me, and so you must be removed.” Another flick of her hand, and the rocks went flying, a wall of stone heading straight for Ember.

Orha roared in alarm and went into overdrive, diving straight down to avoid the stones as Ember let off a panicked shot. The arrow flew straight and true, but the woman touched another gem on her armband and a field of blazing red erupted in the air around her. The arrow hit as if it were wood against granite, stopping midair and bending in on itself before falling uselessly. The energy field faded, and the woman glanced down, looking unimpressed.

“Alright girl, you clearly want for a decent fight, so it is time to end this,” she announced. “I created the metal you use against me; I know its strengths and weaknesses in all forms. You have no advantage, give it up.”

Something about that claim rang eerily familiar to Ember, but she didn’t have time to think on it as she and her dragon were forced to dodge the flying stones again. The twins came in attempting to drive a sneak attack, only for another set of flying boulders to rise up in their path. One of them swept straight for Ruffnut’s head, and moments before it collided Fishlegs barreled through, planting Meatlug in the way so that the Gronckle caught and swallowed the rock instead. “Watch your head Ruff, this is getting to be a recurring theme!” he yelled.

The woman, meanwhile, pressed a new gem and brought her arms down, the boulders seeming to act now on autopilot as she turned her attention toward the island, still clouded in fog. She pressed a dark sapphire stone that rested on her belt, and then reached down and swiped the surface of the ship’s deck with her fingers.

An incredibly loud hum permeated the air, and lights flickered on all along the sides of the vessel. Beneath the ship, the water began to swirl and dance violently, before sweeping away from the stone, a massive downdraft blasting against the ocean surface and causing the ship to begin inching upward, little by little.

Ember’s heart dropped to her feet as she watched the stone craft rise into the air, held aloft by the powerful winds and the massive field producing them. Soon after, the other stone vessels in the bay began to follow, each heading straight toward the fog-covered village.

“We’re not winning this one, are we?” she whispered, feeling an abject loss as she tried, and failed, to figure a way through the impending disaster before her.


	21. Reverberation

_It’s hard to stand_

_When the earth shifts under your feet_

_It’s hard to change_

_When all never moved before_

“Snotlout, get your head down before they shoot it off!”

Said Viking rolled his eyes and gave Astrid a withering glare as she somersaulted behind a boulder; conveniently, he also ignored the one she shot back. He and Thuggory were both hunkered near a felled tree by the edge of the village, but Snotlout was sticking his head up over the top of the log to get a look around as the enemy soldiers loosed arrow after arrow in their direction. Needless to say he made a tempting target.

“Oh please Astrid,” he retorted, “I’m perfectly fine. These guys are such bad shots they couldn’t even manage to hit the broad side of a –WHOA!!”

Snotlout finally ducked behind the tree as a lucky arrow zinged past the side of his head, shaving off the tips of his hair. Watching the strands slowly float to the ground, he scowled in response and glanced in the direction of the soldier responsible for the impromptu haircut before slamming both hands against the tree in frustration.

What he and Thuggory were not expecting was the result of said action being the tree leaving its spot and flying down the hill, knocking down infantry like bowling pins. Snotlout’s eyes widened in shock as he looked down at his hands, before he gave a glance toward Thuggory, who whispered, “I…I guess we know what those marks mean now.”

Snotlout nodded, before the meaning clicked and he grinned, standing up and running off in Astrid’s direction. The latter was swinging her axe all-out as she cleared a path through the village, having taken advantage of the sudden paucity of archers and left her own hiding spot, and Snotlout joined in, letting his hammer introduce itself violently to Jezebel’s forces. Thuggory shook his head at the sight before following after, their own dragons coming in now that arrows were less of a danger and providing cover fire from above.

“The generals and others of higher rank have force field vests,” Astrid told the other two as they skirted through the village again, “so our weapons won’t work on them. But most still seem to be vulnerable to high heat from dragon fire, so if you run into any of them use the dragons to take them down. Thorn already took care of one, and I think I spotted Dogsbreath’s Hotburple take care of a second.”

Astrid paused in her explanation for a moment as she turned and released her axe, taking out the legs of a group of soldiers ganging up nearby on Mulch and letting the man finish the job. She then retrieved the weapon and spun, deflecting a Mysteel arrow that nearly took off her braid. Realizing how close she’d come from having the same kind of haircut experience as Snotlout, Astrid’s eyes narrowed and she snarled, picking up the arrow and throwing it back at the archer, impaling him against the wall of the house behind her.

“You two seem to have some extra strength at your disposal now,” she continued. “Use it to our advantage. Small rocks at high speeds will take the airborne soldiers out, helmet-sized ones will incapacitate or kill the wyverns, anyone on the ground you should hopefully be able to figure”-

“Uh, Astrid,” Thuggory interrupted, lagging behind the other two and looking upward, “what about those?”

As if on cue, a massive shape blocked out the already low light penetrating the fog, and Astrid followed Thuggory’s gaze, looking up to behold a very, very large shadow gliding through the air above them. A powerful wind swept down and buffeted the trio along with the rest of the village as it moved overhead, blowing the breeze-resistant fog slowly out of the way. As it cleared, the Vikings go a much better look at the vessel above them.

“Oh, Lord above, the ships are flying,” Astrid gasped. A moment of stunned silence enveloped them, before she shook out of her trance and turned to the other two. “Okay, new plan because with those up there we’re sitting ducks on the ground. Get on the dragons!”

She whistled sharply, Thorn diving down in response. As the Nadder flew by Astrid grabbed the edge of her saddle and swung herself up, clipping in the safety lines Hiccup had insisted she install before glancing back to see the two Nightmares and their riders following. Then Astrid took in her surroundings to assess the situation, and found the results less than pleasing.

The fog was dissipating rapidly now, and they no longer had cover for their surprise attacks, so Astrid focused on a fast, accurate approach. Soldiers on dragon-back had clear sights on them now, and those on the ground were drawing bows at a far greater distance. She signaled Thorn in practiced maneuvers to single out enemies on their own flying creatures, the pair barrel rolling around the target as Astrid took out the aerial men before they had time to react, and then either Thuggory or Snotlout came in behind to finish off the mutated wyverns. The mounts appeared to be less apt to attack now without a rider, but even without the Bewilderbeast whatever effect Jezebel’s magic had on the poor creatures still had clout, and a riderless enemy dragon was still a terrible danger.

“Astrid!”

Said warrioress looked up to see Ember gliding toward her on Orha. “Hawken’s keeping the sorceress busy on her own ship, but we have another issue.”

“You mean besides the floating stone warships currently hovering over the village?” Astrid snarked. Ember gave her a deadpan glare but continued. “I mean the woman who turned on whatever it is that’s powering these things,” she quipped back. “She’s got an incredibly wide knowledge of how to work the energized gems, and I think she’s Jezebel’s right-hand lieutenant or something. The twins and Fishlegs are currently busy distracting her right now”- to emphasize this, an explosion suddenly rattled from a nearby ship “-but I doubt this is all she has to throw at us, floating platforms to fight from being little advantage on their own when we have dragons.”

“Well, we need to figure a way to take them down,” Astrid said, “but we can’t do so while they’re over the village. Just one of those drops and we might have to completely rebuild a third of the houses, let alone worry about whoever gets caught in the avalanche. If we can disable them enough to knock one off course, might be an option.” “Ruff and Tuff sank one earlier by filling it with gas and setting it off,” Ember offered. “We could work with that somehow.” Astrid nodded in agreement. “Perhaps, but first concern then is getting them over the bay again. We need to figure a way to draw the woman and her ships over water again and take them out there.”

“Well,” Ember groused, “they’re positioning purposely over the village, so I’m thinking it’s not going to be as simple as asking whoever she is to nicely move them –LOOK OUT!!”

Astrid felt Thorn twist under her and she automatically reacted, leaning into the turn and flattening herself to the Nadder’s back. She glanced in the opposite direction and found to her dismay a boulder of all things sailing toward them. Unlike last time however, when Ember had dodged the flying rocks, as this one came within proximity to the two riders and their dragons the surface shimmered orange, and a loud crack sounded as the stone exploded, mineral shards whistling through the air.

Astrid would later vehemently deny it despite several witnesses, but she involuntarily screamed as the cloud of shrapnel headed their way and ducked her head behind the Myscale braces protecting her arms. The rocks hit and most bounced off harmlessly against the metal alloy, but she heard both their dragons roar in pain at the same time as she was being pelted. Looking up as the mineral rain ended, she spotted nothing worse than shallow cuts on Orha’s front legs and sides. Thorn, however…

Thorn had been impaled between her armor by multiple shards, not deep enough to be fatal but enough to hinder the dragon dangerously. Seeing the wounds on her beloved Nadder, Astrid felt something snap, and her eyes narrowed.

“Thorn, land, now! And stay out of sight!” Astrid ordered, unclipping herself as the dragon squawked in protest and waving to Orha. As the Shadowracer turned, Astrid jumped, spinning herself midair and landing behind Ember on his back. “Thorn, go! As soon as I can I’ll get Hawken over to help you, alright?” Astrid urged. Thorn stalled, before reluctantly complying and turning away. Astrid watched as the Nadder glided clumsily toward the edges of the village and disappeared from sight, feeling another pang at having to send her ever-loyal friend out of battle, before turning to her present comrades.

“Get me to the ship she’s on, and I’ll take care of the rest,” Astrid snapped vehemently. Ember turned to comply, but Orha slowed down instead, drawing concern from his riders. “Uh, there’s a real problem with that plan,” he noted with worry. “She’s no longer on a ship.”

All three of them looked ahead, to find the mineral-wielding woman floating in front of them a couple dozen yards away. The same power that propelled the warships worked on a smaller scale around her, a spinning field under her feet propelling the woman through the air. Ruff, Tuff and Fishlegs could be seen further off, still trying to gain her attention and distract her, but she was focused solely on the two women astride the Shadowracer.

“You fight with loyal dragons, but so do we,” she called almost nonchalantly. “You have a powerful ally with ancient abilities, and we have an equally powerful leader. But, you lack in one defining factor: you do not have me.”

Screaming electricity crackled through the air as the woman swept both her hands up toward the riders, and the gems along her arms lit up in succession. The trio dodged the lightning and came back around, Ember holding a biting remark on her tongue and responding in turn.

“We have God on our side, and His power within each of us,” she snapped. “There’s no higher trump card you could possibly”-

“God?!” the woman barked harshly, cutting the fiery-haired girl off. “You claim you have God on your side? I once thought I had the Almighty behind me as well, that my power came from him. Then He forsook me, and my gift became a curse, trapping everyone I loved and ever cared about forever and leaving me alone, isolated with demons for centuries.”

She closed her eyes as she continued, dredging up memories she had buried until then and each word spat with a bitter tone. “I believed as fiercely as anyone once, and everything fell. I lost that hope long ago, and nothing has ever told me I should regain it otherwise. In the end, if you fight you fall, and there won’t be anything or anyone there to catch you.”

A vortex of stones ripped up out of the ground far below, and at the same time beams of green-tinted power erupted from the woman’s hovering field, striking the ships that soared through the air around them. A terrible whirring sound erupted all around, and suddenly unseen ports slid open along the sides of the vessels, great barrels within emerging and aiming downward.

The stone vortex spun outward with fury, forcing all the dragons in the area to dive away from the attack as cannon fire began to echo in all directions, powerful projectiles hurtling from the ships and strafing the village below, carving through hillsides and houses alike and leaving behind only chaos. Those without their own dragons on the ground screamed and fled for cover, the enemy forces they fought against likewise doing the same under the sudden, merciless assault.

Through all the turmoil that had erupted, though, one rider had been listening to the words spoken, and was attempting to piece together what the woman had said with what it meant. As Meatlug veered away from the onslaught, taking a few rocks to the tail, Fishlegs finally had a light go off in his head as everything fell into place before him. The events of their last encounter with Jezebel and the subsequent result bloomed in his memory: an ancient family of gifted guardians, who had thought they lost one of their own, then a young girl with a unique and dangerous ability.

“Oh, my word,” he whispered. “Thank you Lord, that’s the answer! She-she doesn’t know! Her family’s been freed and is safe, and-and they don’t know she’s alive either!” He pumped his fists in the air in triumph. “That’s it, that’s the answer! It’s Aurianna!”

Fishlegs quickly put on a determined expression and pointed Meatlug toward a pair of blonde twins on a Zippleback, yelling, “Ruff, Tuff! Find Thuggory and Heather and get them up here! I have an idea!” Then he spun in the direction of the erratically flying Shadowracer nearby, the revelation and an entirely new plan reverberating through his head.

* * *

The near-complete silence of the damp cave did nothing to settle Mildew’s thoughts. The occurrences of the past few months had begun to shake his bearings on life, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was sitting around and waiting out chaos with the other elders and the annoying children of the village.

He glanced toward the far end of the cavern, where a makeshift bed had been propped up for its sole occupant. Mildew and Stoick had never quite seen eye to eye, but the chief had kept the village running through some of the worst dragon raids Mildew had ever seen, successfully transitioned them all to the new life they faced after the general threat of dragons had been removed, and had through it all retained the strength, physically and mentally, to stare down even a Jotunn and win. For that, Mildew held a great deal of respect for the man, and to see him now, laid out just a few yards away completely at the mercy of the world, rocked even the old curmudgeon’s foundations of thought.

For a while he blamed the dragons, as he always had. The beasts had never redeemed themselves in his eyes, and when word got out that it was Toothless who’d taken the shot that brought their chief so low, Mildew jumped at another chance to possibly rid the village of the creature he had still viewed as the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death.

The look in Hawken’s eyes when he’d come upon Mildew confronting Hiccup about it was the first chip in the old mans’ hardened visage. Black was a color no one wanted to see in the dragon boy’s eyes, especially when the rage came attached with a deep pain that Hawken had tried to hide, but still leaked out. The second blow was how Toothless and the other dragons had acted over the weeks to follow around Stoick’s house, absolutely no different than the other villagers waiting for a beloved man to recover. The most recent straw to break Mildew’s thoughts was in knowing Toothless of all the dragons was the one willing to risk the greatest loss he could experience a second time just to prevent it from happening to all of them.

“One might think yer up te something,” came a prodding voice. Mildew glanced up wearily to meet Gobber’s questioning gaze. The blacksmith stood near Stoick’s bed, helping Gothi tend to the medicines and supplies they had brought along with them to take care of the others and especially the chief, and was exercising his well-hidden but not unknown powers of observation as he looked toward the village curmudgeon.

“It’s chafing me to stand in here uselessly when everyone else is out there fighting for our necks,” Mildew quipped back, pacing restlessly again. Gobber snorted as he looked at a bottle label. “And since when have you considered the well-being of everyone else? Last I’ve checked you were always stingy about even lending a hand with your own cabbages most times when ye came down te the village.”

“And last I checked our entire way of life has been turned upside down several times over the past few years too,” Mildew returned. “Things have…happened, and to be honest I don’t like where I’ve been standing through it all as I look back.” He sighed. “For once I think it’s time I did things a little differently too.”

The silence rose up thick enough to cut with a knife; in all his years Gobber had never expected this turn of events. “You-you’re having a change of heart?” he queried cautiously.

“Call it what you want,” Mildew muttered. “I’ve done wrong, and…” he stumbled on picking up the words he was looking for, before grasping his staff tightly and marching toward the exit of their hideaway. “It’s time I gave a little of what I’ve taken in the past. Keep an eye on Fungus for me.”

Gobber’s eyes widened, before sense rushed to him again and he hobbled forward, trying to catch the man. “Mildew! There are other ways to go about this; running out to the village now is suicide!” “Then it’s the best way I can leave!” Mildew called back, already well ahead of the smith and faster even on his old bones than Gobber was, popping out of the mouth of the cave only a minute later and striding down the mountain path, a determined look entirely foreign to him dominating his expression as he reached up and scraped his staff along the rocks, sharpening the bone edges as he went.

* * *

The fact that the ship beneath my feet was floating now left me feeling rather disconcerted, but sad to say I wasn’t left feeling terribly surprised. Besides, I had far more important matters at hand, leaning back to a dangerous angle as a Mysteel blade swept over my head, my double tail and the swords held in its grip swinging up to try and take out the blade as it passed by.

Instead, the bite of Jezebel’s sword caught one of my tail tips, and I jerked it back, removing the appendage before she could finish the job and healing as quickly as I could. I backflipped and righted myself, before trying out a different tactic. Nightmare flames raced across my form and then arced outward, swirling into a complex spiral around both of us and lighting up the makeshift arena that was the stone ship’s deck. Though I doubted they would seriously affect Jezebel, as she was more than used to fighting dragons and fire came with the package, the maze of flames acted as a moderate distraction as I shrank down to a smaller form, a slightly oversized Fireworm, and twisted through the burning whips to take a hard shot at the sorceress.

A blast of power hit me in the chest instead, knocking the wind out of me and sending me sliding across the deck. Dazed, I stood up shakily and demorphed, trying to clear my vision. I looked up then, only to see a dagger flying straight toward my face. I was still too shaky to be able to move quite fast enough to dodge however; stupid me, the fire acted as a distraction on my side, but it also concealed Jezebel’s actions and intent.

The dagger never reached me however. The scream of a Night Fury sounded nearby and two shots soared out, an acetylene plasma charge melting the dagger mid-throw and the other an electric arrow exploding against Jezebel’s vest and knocking her off balance for a moment. As my head finally cleared I grinned; the flame maze had hidden the incoming attack of my friends, an unintentional score on our end.

I stood up straight and turned to watch Hiccup leap from Toothless’ back to the deck as the Night Fury circled above us, waiting for another opportunity to fire on the woman causing us all so much grief.

“Figured you couldn’t quite hold your own forever, as usual,” Hiccup teased, sizing up another arrow and taking out a chunk of the deck nearby Jezebel, keeping her on her feet as dust filled the air.

“Well, can you blame me?” I quipped back. “I’m up against her!” I switched my gaze to Jezebel again. “But in all seriousness, good to know you’re available again, so I’m guessing Drago and company are out of the way. We have to end this quickly; she has someone who knows how to work these ships to their full extent.”

Proving my point, the deck under our feet shuddered slightly as the ships began firing on the village below. Hiccup pursed his lips, before putting Framherja away and pulling out his sword.

“I’ve got an idea that might even some of the odds,” he said, “but it may make me sound a little like Cami.” He signaled Toothless to fire, covering us as Hiccup relayed his plan to me. Jezebel released a fireball of her own, the weaponized flame soaring toward the ebony dragon above us who more than easily dodged and raked the deck again with fire, moving fast enough to demand nearly all of Jezebel’s attention for the time being.

Hiccup finished outlining his intentions, and I frowned. “Okay, yeah, that does make you sound like Cami. But it also sounds more like one of your usual harebrained reckless plans,” I muttered. He grinned as he stepped away, and we took up Jezebel’s attention again. “Well, yeah, but they tend to work in some manner don’t they?” “They work yes, but someone usually ends up almost dying half the time too!”

“Would you two quit with the sideline chatter and fight already?!” Jezebel snapped, her swords swinging upward again as she came toward us. “It’s not like you have come up here to do anything else, and I am not one to sit back idly in my own war so you’ll have to if you want to last any longer!”

Both blades whirled out, leaving her hands and aiming for us. Unfortunately neither sword stopped acting like she still held them, sweeping and cutting as if still held by a practiced swordsman. Expert moves kept both Hiccup and I busy as Jezebel herself stayed unhindered, turning to keep Toothless at bay with a whirling storm of energy above our heads as she also came in at me again, another weapon appearing in her grip and forcing me to use every move I had at my disposal.

“This is all really pointless, don’t you think?” I scowled, avoiding both the sword she held along with parrying the one that floated along with a mind of its own. Jezebel smirked. “Yes, I do. So you should give it up sooner rather than later. I still have multiple upper hands over you in this battle of attrition, and if you surrender now your suffering ends faster and the same end result is reached.”

“I’m not done myself, Jezebel,” I snapped, “and I have more than hands and tails to fight with.” Swerving between the two swords in a sudden sweep, I brought my head down against hers.

So, she definitely wasn’t expecting such a blunt move, but let me make the note now that nobody wins in a head-butt. Even with reinforced scales covering my head we both stumbled away, dazed, but it gave Hiccup and Toothless the opening they were waiting for. Hiccup leapt past the now semi-inactive floating sword and swept his own sword up toward Jezebel, who was only just awake enough to back away from the death blow. The sword did, however, cleave through the remainder of the vest she wore over her armor, and it dropped uselessly to the deck. Toothless dove and fired point-blank, sending the tattered leather well out of Jezebel’s immediate reach and further disabling it, and Hiccup drew Framherja to loose a bolt into the central connecting crystal. The electric charge worked perfectly, overloading the gems on it and causing the whole thing to detonate.

Jezebel recovered just as her vest exploded, as did I, and her already flashing eyes erupted in fury. She whirled and grabbed two of her swords again and swung them toward me. I swept up my own blades and blocked the cutting blow, but I wasn’t ready for the added force that came radiating down the metal from the attack. The power akin to a sorcerer’s invisible battering ram slammed into me, and I flew backward, colliding with the ship’s rail. My breath left my lungs for a second time in the course of the fight, but I didn’t stop moving.

Instead, as I caught a glimpse of Jezebel unleashing the same attack on Hiccup, who luckily had Toothless there to pull him to safety before he hit anything, I tumbled up and over the edge, falling fast toward the hillside below. Uncoordinated by the blow, I clumsily spread a pair of wings and tried to right myself.

As we had fought, Jezebel’s ship had positioned itself up against the mountainside that the Great Hall was built into, so my attempt to regain my bearings did not have the intended result. Instead, I swept straight into the cliff above the Hall, and collided head-first. I slid down along the rocks and then over the arch of the Hall, falling to the ground. I groaned, trying and failing to concentrate enough to heal the blunt force trauma keeping me down, and everything around me began to darken.

Funnily enough, my brain was working just well enough to catch the irony of my collision, taking me out of the battle in exactly the same manner that had kept me down during the conflict at Dragon Island. I saw the vessel Jezebel commandeered descending in my direction, but this time I wasn’t going to be getting up to confront her again.

The sounds of war around me began to deaden, and I barely managed to take note of the cannons on the ships ceasing their bombardment of Berk before I completely blacked out once more.

When I awoke some time later, focused enough to heal, the situation was far, far worse. Battle had just about altogether ceased, but only because Jezebel stood above me, holding her foot down on my chest and her sword at my neck, and keeping the rest of the village at bay with the threat of my head if they moved.


	22. Havah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone got a guess as per what the title here means? I should hope there are hints enough to follow

_Stay clear, my eyes_

_Catch all, my ears_

_Feel prudently, o touch_

_And tell wise, my tongue_

_Harsh is the earth_

_But na’er we for it made_

_No, we are for another_

_Another nearby place_

_So have courage_

_Have Hope_

“Guys, she’s been hurting for this long, that’s what’s kept her here. She doesn’t have any hope for the future,” Fishlegs pleaded.

The teens had retreated from the battle for a time to hear out his thoughts, though Cami was still missing from the group, off on one ship currently causing havoc and having herself a jolly time.

“We know who she is, and we know her family,” Fishlegs continued. “She doesn’t, but maybe we can get her to come around if we can prove to her there’s still somewhere to go.”

“And how do we know she’ll listen to us?” Thuggory asked. “We’re the enemy to her currently, she’ll think we’ll say anything to get out of this, and she’s already allied to Jezebel seemingly of her own will.”

“Only because she thinks Jezebel still holds her family hostage,” Fishlegs countered, “or was I the only one who noticed Jezebel wearing an identical replica of that emerald Hiccup blew up around her neck?”

Silence ensured for a moment, surrounded by echoing cannon fire. Finally Tuffnut broke the stalemate. “She’ll still think we’re trying to pull one over her,” he pointed out. “Not if we make mention of the details no one could possibly know if they weren’t true,” Fishlegs countered again. “Hiccup has Framherja; the only ones who even know that weapon exists are us, Aslan whom they entrusted it to, Jezebel, and her family. Or, mention their names: Odin, Freyja, Thor, Loki, Volstag, Heimdall, Hogun and Fandral.”

“And Fenrir, don’t forget him,” Tuffnut added. “Yeah, he was cool!” his sister agreed.

“Yes, yes, we’re getting off track here,” Fishlegs griped. “Convince her we know what we’re talking about, and we may be able to get her on our side and bring down the sorceress with finality.” Ember and Astrid nodded their head in agreement, and looked to Heather, who had the least experience with the situation but a great head for strategy. “That would certainly turn the tide without doubt,” Astrid muttered, “but it’s going to take a lot of convincing. She’s been down this path for centuries after all.” Another quick glance between her and Ember, and Astrid smiled. “The result would be worth it thought. Alright, let’s do thi-AAAHHHH!!”

The group scattered as a navy-blue Mood Dragon swerved by, a wild-eyed rider grinning at them. “Hey guys, what’d I miss?” Cami yelled, grin growing wilder.

“Geez, Cami, scare the heck out of all of us why don’t you?” Fishlegs whined. “Yeah, yeah, so you’re a wimp, what’s next?” Camicazi drawled. “Come on, who’s the woman over there with the flying rocks?”

“It’s Aurianna Asgard.”

It took a moment, then Camicazi’s face lit up in realization. “Oh! The source of all this! And she doesn’t…doesn’t…oh.” The rest nodded at what the heiress had just figured out, before Astrid groaned. “Okay, we don’t have time to sit around and chat anymore, so let’s move! Heather, got a plan of attack?”

“Form a ring around her, keep her attention split between us and no one person say everything!” the young woman answered. “If we all make mention of the same things, that bolsters the fact that what we’re saying is true!” The order spurred everyone into action, and they split apart, heading toward where the ancient once-guardian had her sights set on directing the cannon fire of the ships toward the still-standing buildings in the village below.

As the riders neared they swung wide, moving to circle around Aurianna. Around them all, battles raged between Jezebel’s forces and the villagers on dragon-back, and out in the harbor Astrid spotted Valka and Mogadon on their dragons leading a counter strike against the more standard vessels still left in the bay. Down below, those without dragons had mostly cleared out of the village due to the onslaught from above, but a few were still trying to get out and find cover. The teens knew though that if they pulled this plan off, all that scrabbling would become a null point.

Stormfly dove down in front of the woman first, and Cami leaned toward her, urgent eyes wide as she shouted out, “Aurianna!”

The reaction was instantaneous. The energy lines emanating from the woman to the stone ships shut down, leaving them running on automatic, and she turned with wide, shocked eyes to regard the blonde warrioress.

“How do you now that name?” she said, barely above a whisper. “Because we know who you are,” Astrid followed up, coming up next to the woman before she, Ember and Orha moved off to safety.

“I am the alchemist! No one alive but the sorceress knows my old name; how did you discover this?!” Aurianna growled, her hands starting to glow again as the gems on her wrists lit up in matching patterns. Cami saw the threat rising and yelled out hurriedly, “Because she isn’t the only one alive from that time anymore! Odin and the others have been released; you’re not the last of your family anymore!”

Aurianna’s response was to swing her hand around, a curtain of pebbles flying upward and sparkling with electricity. “You will not taunt me with memories of my past!” she hissed. “That life died as surely as you will!”

The stone curtain swept forward, Stormfly and Camicazi both screaming as it enveloped them, the electric veins between the rocks leaving burns and making them jerk and twitch involuntarily in pain.

Ember signaled to Orha and he dove down, his rider reaching out and carefully but quickly sweeping her fingers across the net. Immediately the electric current froze over and the rocks cracked, shattering and releasing their two prisoners again.

“It never died!” Ember yelled out, Orha flying back up to Aurianna’s level. “We know what happened; the emerald you melded with Mjollnir’s energy acted as a dimensional trap. But Mjollnir wasn’t the only way to reverse the effect!”

“Yes it was, and there’s nothing to change that!” Aurianna bit back. “Jezebel still holds the jewel, she still holds that power.” Boulders went flying, scattering the teens again. One headed straight for Fishlegs, which had a result Aurianna never intended.

Fully loaded by the rock Meatlug let loose a fireball, the lava cascading over the side of the ship below and slowly melting through, hitting something rather important and shutting down the cannons across the vessel. Aurianna, distracted by the sudden loss of a weapon, turned her head and only barely managed to erect her barrier field in time to block a shot from Orhaganuz, the force of which still drove her to the deck.

“You ever stop to think there is more than one crystal that looks the same?” Astrid called out as they swept by. “The jewel Jezebel carries now is a fake! The other was broken by Hiccup, the one who rides the Night Fury!”

“It’s impossible without the weapon that helped create it!” Aurianna snapped back as she brought up yet another wave of stone. “I tried, several dozen times, on similar gems, and not a one would”-

“What about Framherja?” Thuggory interrupted her, sweeping by on Silverwings and catching a rock, throwing it back to the deck.

That did it. Everything around the alchemist immediately shut down and dropped, save for the floating ships. “W-what did you say?” she stuttered.

“Framherja, the lightning-spitting bow you helped craft from your brother’s weapon,” Thuggory continued, slowing Silverwings in front of Aurianna so she could hear him clearly. “You gave it to Aslan, the lion protector of the land they call Narnia, for safekeeping before your run-in with Jezebel. It wields the exact same energy as the hammer.”

Aurianna’s face continued its melting from an expression of unbridled anger to that of pure shock. “How do you know this?” she asked quietly. “Because we went there, duh,” Tuffnut blurted, before being smacked by his sister for the rude presentation. Astrid glared at him as well before nodding.

“Yes, we traveled there last year, around this same time,” she explained, “and we met the guardian. Turns out Hiccup was the one he thought should wield the bow.”

“And considering he can not only hold but fire it, seems Aslan was right if what we’ve seen as a result is any indication,” Ember added. “Hiccup managed to hit the emerald dead-on with a bolt the last time Jezebel made a house-call here, releasing the rest of your family from the temporal prison they had been trapped in. They’re alive, back home right now, thinking you dead as well.”

There came a period of tense silence, save for the sounds of battle still surrounding them, as the alchemist stood there looking lost.

“Aurianna, this is not something we would ever lie about,” Astrid began. “Family is one thing far too important to us to mess around about, and here there is too much at…”

Her words died as the woman locked eyes with her, tears of pain, hope and despair mixed as one emotion beginning to stream from her eyes.

“Even if what you said were true,” Aurianna began, “too much has happened for me to reconcile what I’ve done, all the pain I have caused others.”

“Hiccup taught me that everyone deserves another chance if they’re willing to take it,” Astrid replied softly. “Three hundred years of abject hatred ended in little more than a day, and a couple of years later another odd boy came along and taught us of the existence of a God who works by means we don’t always understand. Perhaps your family was separated from you, and you all kept alive until now, because you yet have a purpose to be done in this time.”

Astrid smiled softly at the reminiscent thought, before continuing. “The error of your past can be forgiven just like any other transgression. What has happened can’t change but you do have control over what comes next. Help us now, and we can bring you back to those you care for again. Odin gave our friend Hawken a means to call him directly if ever needed, and we can use it as soon as we”-

A sudden, explosive crack drew their attention away, and they all turned to see a flash of light erupt from where Hiccup and Hawken had been facing off with the sorceress. A few moments later the teens and dragons winced as Hawken went tumbling off the ship, and clumsily collided with the cliff of the Great Hall. Hiccup went flying as well, but Toothless was there to catch him, and as soon as the Night Fury was gliding away to make sure his brother was alright, Jezebel’s ship turned and began to bear down toward the fallen member of their team.

Astrid immediately turned toward the alchemist again. “Aurianna, Jezebel is going after Hawken now, the one who has the means to contact your family,” she urged. “If she has her way with him everything ends right now. We need to know if you will be with us. There’s still time, but not much.”

Another silent second passed, before Aurianna looked back at Astrid again. A new look of determination appeared in her eyes drowning out the residual pain, and she spun around, raising her hands. Expecting another attack Astrid tightened her grip on her raised axe, but instead of another assault of flying rocks the automated cannon fire from the other ships ceased, and the vessels slowly turned on their pivot points and headed away from the village. Aurianna turned again and activated her hovering field a second time, rising up off the retreating ship and gliding toward Jezebel’s vessel.

“If what you say is true then we may have a chance yet,” she said, fiddling with the crystals on her wristbands as she raced forward, the dragons right behind her. “Jezebel will have already reached your friend and will attempt to use him as a bargaining token, but if…” she pressed down on the wristband, and a sudden piercing noise rang out, “…if on the off chance this works we might have enough on our side to get away without losing everything. 900 years of wrongs, I pray I’m not too late to start turning it on its head.”

Below, Jezebel’s ship slowed to a halt, and a set of steps appeared in the side of the vessel. The sorceress sauntered down them and stepped off, seemingly floating the last little bit to the ground before she walked up to the unconscious half dragon, pulling out a sword and laying it over his neck.

Aurianna reached her first, but Astrid didn’t wait for Orha to land before leaping off and somersaulting forward, landing on her feet and leveling the blade of her axe at the sorceress.

“Make another move and I’ll make you lose your head,” she growled. Jezebel glanced at her, before bursting out laughing. “As if you could even reach me before you died!” she snorted. “And the guardian friend of yours sits under my blade. You make a move, and he loses his. Or, you move and,” she gestured toward the multitudes of soldiers gathering around as they each pulled out miniaturized crossbows, leveling them at dragons and villagers alike, “all of them go down. I hear dragons don’t get along too well with eels.”

Painful silence ensued as the gang faced off in the stalemate with their enemies, the rest of the village closing in but none of them willing to make the first move either, even as more warriors on Berk’s side landed around the gathering crowd, the fighting elsewhere dying off as things reached a head.

Even worse, Hiccup and Toothless landed only moments later, the rider immediately drawing the string back on Framherja in threat.

“A pointless move, dragon whisperer,” Jezebel taunted. “Any action further and your friend dies.” Toothless snarled in reply, and Jezebel looked at him, a laughing expression growing on her face again. “Oh, yes, how it burns you to be unable to do anything, doesn’t it Night Fury? Just like you are unable to do anything but slowly live out your life with the pitiful knowledge that you are the last on earth.”

It was a summer day, but even for Berk the air immediately felt cold, like frost was imminent. Everyone who knew Toothless had silently feared that fact, the few who already knew trying to ignore it, having never seen another Night Fury in all their years, but to have it so plainly laid out cut like a honed blade.

“Yes, the only Night Fury still to walk the earth,” the sorceress mused. “The others were wiped out long ago, the last besides you with a legacy to have her skin worn by the overlord Drago Bludvist. You lonely creature, with nowhere to go.”

Jezebel then smiled even more wickedly. “In fact, this works out all the better. Your village gets to have a choice.”

She swung her free hand, and suddenly both Toothless and Hiccup felt the unseen field of magic slam into them, dragging them into the side of the cliff, just on the other side of the sorceress from Hawken. Jezebel looked out over the gathered Vikings and soldiers, reveling in the burning anger she saw in their eyes.

“This is your choice,” she announced, “though seeing as how death of beloveds is involved only I win. Who dies first: the boy you look to as your pathetic future chief and his dragon the last of his kind, or the sniveling mockery of a guardian under my blade whom you all look to so dearly for help?”

Just to press the tension even further, visible spears of cutting energy erupted from the magic field to dig into Hiccup and Toothless’ necks, at the same time that Hawken finally began to stir and wake.

Not a muscle moved, the stalemate clear. Jezebel’s earlier warning to the dragon boy now faced the rest of the village, all of whom had grown to care deeply for everyone they knew. To be left with who to kill first, even knowing all three would die most likely, burned like hot iron in the eyes.

Hawken woke fully, only to freeze when he realized the position he was stuck in. Unable to move without beheading or stabbing himself, he laid waiting for an opportunity.

Then, the first person did finally make their play. Aurianna had been fixated by the bow in Hiccup’s hands, still held even as he was pressed into the arch of the Great Hall’s entrance, as she realized everything the other teens had told her was true. She turned her attention away then and ran her right hand over her left wristband and the gems on it in a new order. Suddenly all the crossbows held by the soldiers folded up and locked, useless and unable to be fired. A similar occurrence came with the men wearing the gem-studded vests, which all suddenly shut down as well, the glow of the stones fading and leaving them powerless.

“To be honest Jezebel, I never told you everything,” Aurianna said boldly. “I developed the vests, weapons, and ships on a network system so that should things go south I could command the whole army to do exactly what I needed to without slip-ups, but I think here I have found a better use for the failsafe: taking your army out of the equation.” She gestured to the one ship Jezebel had control over, and frowned. “The Night Fury took out your vest luckily, and granted I can’t shut down your ship from a distance, but all the other ships, all the cannons and Ephesian steel machines answer to me.”

Smiling sadly, Aurianna waved her hand around at the gathered crowd as a generalization. “We fight for different things Jezebel. You fed me lies for so many years, so it’s only fair I returned the favor with one of mine.”

“Serves you a whole lot of good to go against me when these three, the critical members of this battle, are still under my hands, alchemist,” Jezebel snarled back. “This is all I need to keep everything, even you, at bay.” She emphasized her point by digging the sharp edges of the black magic field into Hiccup’s neck, drawing blood. The boy choked as his throat closed to escape the deadly pressure, and Hawken still strained to find a way out from under the sorceress’ sword that moved with every twitch he made, the metal sharp enough to draw blood even through the Shadowracer scales coating his neck.

Jezebel snickered at seeing Aurianna falter slightly. “Go ahead traitor, find a solution that doesn’t involve the death of everyone on this island, and your head rolling with them.”

Aurianna glanced around her, lost for a moment, before she finally picked up on the hints that something new was about to take place. Nine hundred years of practice kept the surprise and look of realization off her face as she glared back at the sorceress.

“I don’t have to do anything more,” she growled, a knowing smile on her face. “You’ve already lost, and it’s about time you had the favor returned for the races you sought to wipe from the planet and the suffering you’ve caused for thousands.”

Jezebel barely had time to consider Aurianna’s words, barely time for her eyes to widen as the alchemist placed an amber colored stone to her ear, the power of which acting like a sonic barrier and blocking out all sound (having taken the hint from the multitudes of dragons covering their ears and the group of teens holding theirs), before an ear-shattering shriek slammed into the sorceress, the pain of the sound scrambling her senses and dropping her to her knees.

* * *

<Cover your ears.>

I glanced at Toothless as best I could in my position, who nodded at me as best as he could with the prongs in his neck, as he relayed the message for the other dragons who were watching him. I saw the teens also let go of their weapons and hold their hands to their ears, knowing it best to take cues from the dragons.

I couldn’t cover mine, but knowing Toothless I needed to do something; that tone meant he’d figured out a new trick and wasn’t waiting long to use it either. So, I did the next best thing I could: I got rid of my hearing altogether. Jezebel was completely oblivious, focused on the crowd and Aurianna ( I’d caught enough in the conversation to figure out who the mystery woman was) and not understanding Dragonese nor paying attention to the other reptiles either. All the better.

Most people know by now Night Furies possess a very keen sense of echolocation. What you might not know is that also means they have a very impressive control over their vocals, including frequency and volume. Once he saw at least most of our side had gotten the message, Toothless sucked in a breath, turned as best he could toward Jezebel, and let loose.

I couldn’t hear the noise, but the very vibrations of the air were making my teeth rattle, and had I still needed glasses they would have been rendered absolutely useless.

Jezebel took the onslaught as hoped. She was prepared for weapons, fire, and various metaphysical attacks I could come up with, or even the blunt power of roars like those of a Thunderdrum. What she wasn’t prepared for was a screaming dragon.

As soon as she dropped to her knees the sword came up off my throat, giving me the room needed to spin out of the way, heal the cuts that had been rendered, and race over to Hiccup and Toothless. One hit with the right energy frequency and the field came down, releasing them and allowing me to heal the cuts on both of them as Toothless continued his barrage with renewed vigor.

Jezebel wasn’t one to be held for long though, and even with blood leaking between her fingers from her ears, caused by the painful sound, she eventually managed to get to her feet and let loose a set of daggers at us.

This time we were more than ready though. Toothless stopped his sonic attack and Hiccup leapt back up into the saddle, both of them dodging the blades meant for them with ease. I caught the one heading my way and flung it back, slicing through the sleeve on her arm, before two of my swords materialized in my hands again now that I was focused enough to bring them into use, and I took to the air as well.

The other teens followed our example along with Valka and Cloudjumper, soaring up alongside us as Aurianna corralled the soldiers and kept them out of the fight. Jezebel was on her own now, and we were all aiming for her and her alone. And, we were all plenty ticked.

“Anything else I should know that I’ve missed while I was out?” I yelled to the group as the sorceress, outnumbered greatly, took off through the ruined village below, brandishing her swords and holding us off from attacking directly with ripples of black magic rending the air.

“Well, that woman who switched to our side down there is Odin’s daughter,” Astrid yelled back. “Yeah, caught that already,” I replied. She smirked, expecting a similar answer. “Oh, okay. Yeah, she’s on our side for now at least, and mentioned something about, uh, if something she did with the minerals on her wrist worked, we’d have a chance.”

“Sure that wasn’t just referencing her turning off all the gems in the army?” I asked. Astrid shrugged. “Well, that occurred when she fiddled with the band on the ground, I’m talking about this odd sound she made them produce beforehand. Maybe a call for some sort of backup?”

Silence. “Yeah, great, very specific thank you,” I drawled. “Sorry, she didn’t exactly give the details on the whole thing. I don’t think she completely trusts us yet either,” Astrid quipped.

I smiled at the ridiculousness of the conversations we had in such strenuous circumstances, being still at war after all. Then I barreled downward with a spinning set of blades and a torrent of flames reaching out ahead of me. Jezebel turned and caught the swords in time with her own, and redirected the fire to instead down a nearby house which, until that point, was miraculously still standing. Now it matched the rest of the scene. I wasn’t giving up though.

“There’s nowhere left for you to run to, o mistress of misery,” I quipped sarcastically. “Your army gone, your weapons advisor against you, and you’re headed for the docks that jut out into wide open ocean.”

“And if I can hold you off long enough I can still make my way out of this,” she bit back. “You underestimate me again; as soon as I reach the water there is nothing you can do to hold me down.”

I snorted as I struck again with my swords. “What? It’s not like I can’t swim, and you’ve used similar lines before to pitiful results.” Blades flashed between us as the other riders came barreling past, hurling flames of all kind at us. I was unaffected, but even with her unnatural protection from the heat I could see beads of sweat beginning to roll down Jezebel’s face both from exertion and the boiling air. However, she knew that so long as she kept in close proximity to me the rest of the gang wouldn’t risk any other forms of attack. I quickly figured the same though, and backed off for a moment, just enough time for Hiccup and Ember to fire their bows.

Jezebel shielded herself from the electric bolt, prematurely detonating the energy and ignoring the effect as it rippled the air and faded harmlessly. The Mysteel arrow, however, she caught between her fingers and twirled it warningly.

“I saw what the fire girl Ur did with these,” she sneered. “A single scratch and you’re dead in seconds. What happens if I use it on any of you?”

I shrugged, ignoring Jezebel’s use of Ember’s old taunting nickname and watching her falter when I showed no worry at the arrow. “Not much, actually. Sure, it could pierce our suits and be able to hurt us for a time, but it wouldn’t penetrate deep enough to do any serious damage.”

“The poison would still do its job.” “Venom, and no. I’m the one who produces it, which means I also have the mechanism to create an antidote. By now the rest of the village does too.” I laughed as I whipped my tail out, blades along its length erecting and forcing Jezebel to go on the defensive again. “You honestly think we didn’t work through that detail already? Nine hundred years really didn’t do much for the old hag, did it?”

Jezebel scowled, before throwing the arrow outward, the blade flying in the direction of the twins. I leapt up and grabbed it, turning to stall the witch again, but she’d already taken off, running down the path again and deflecting fire from Windshear and Stormfly.

As she rounded the corner toward the steps to the dock, though, something leapt out from behind a lonely storehouse and rammed into her, a long decorated staff tearing her shirtsleeve with a sharp edge at the tip and the collision sending a cloud of dust everywhere. As it cleared, the figure standing over Jezebel and waling at her with the staff revealed itself to be…

“MILDEW?!!”

The old man turned and whacked Jezebel over the head with his staff again, the sorceress too stunned by who her attacker was to react for a moment. It gave enough time for Fishlegs to yell out, “Mildew, what on earth are you doing?!”

“What I now realize I should have done a very long time ago!” he yelled back, standing up straight and whacking Jezebel again like he was wielding a golf club. “What are you all waiting for, take her down! And apologies for taking so long to get my wits together, but between the dragons and the witch here I pick the lesser of two evils!”

Stepping away to allow a clearer shot for the rest of us, Mildew would up to take another swing. Just as quickly however, Jezebel rolled out of the way of a Shadowracer fireball and leapt up, grabbing Mildew’s staff and pulling him toward her, pinning the makeshift weapon up against his neck and securing his arms in one deft move. Then, dragging Mildew along with her, she raced toward the docks once more.

Jezebel reached the harbor quickly and relatively unhindered due to her having a hostage, and she whirled at the end of one of the docks to face the rest of us as we landed at the other end.

“Let him go, Jezebel,” I hissed warningly, wings hooding on instinct. “You’ve already lost, so there’s no gain to this”-

“I know that we’ve all figured this ends here,” Jezebel cut in, her hand twirling behind her and reappearing with one of her smaller blades, pressing it against Mildew’s throat just above his own staff. “If this is truly the end for me, then I’m taking at least one more person with me. I swear I will get at least that much from all this.”

“Forget about me!” Mildew rasped. “Finish her off or we’ll never see-urk!” He choked as Jezebel pressed the blade in tighter.

“Jezebel, you have nowhere left to go. Let him be,” a new voice joined in. I turned slightly to see Aurianna glide down in her hovering field to land in front of all of us. “Not even your black magic and demons holds match against the number of gifted individuals standing before you, and you know well the outcome of prolonging this fight further.” Just then, her gaze swung past Jezebel, out to sea, and her expression grew immensely brighter. “And, that number has just risen one more.”

As it turned out, Mildew’s stall had given just enough time for someone else to cut off Jezebel’s last chance for escape. We all turned to see what on earth the alchemist could have been referring to, and watched as out beyond the harbor, the ocean surged with something immense racing beneath the surface.

As the wave reached the bay it rose and crested, spilling out over the ships and the outer docks before draining away. In its place, towering over all of us, was a sea serpent like none I’d ever seen. It had a head that alone was a size to match the Red Death’s skull, scales colored like the deepening blue sky dotted with rows of blunt raised projections, and two piercing eyes colored of a silver-lined aquamarine that were etched with images spanning a millennium of existence.

Jezebel stumbled backward at the sight of the colossal creature in front of us, nearly losing hold of Mildew as she gawked up at the serpent. “No,” she gasped, “no, that can’t be! You-you’re dead!”

“I took a gamble as I previously believed that like everyone else in my life he might have been gone, especially after your attempted poisoning last I saw him,” Aurianna said accusingly. “And there was no guarantee he’d be anywhere near here. But I know where my family frequented, and my luck does pay off occasionally.”

Her gaze swung back up toward the sky-hued reptile, and she smiled wider than I’d yet seen. “Glad to see one more thing I was wrong about after all these years, brother.”

“As am I,” the serpent spoke back, shocking us further with a deep and powerful voice of near-melodic quality, filled with the hidden tone of great relief. “Had I known you still survived I would have come many years sooner to your aid.” His silver-etched eyes then fixated on the trembling woman almost directly beneath him.

“I’m not surprised the first call I get in nearly nine hundred years is to deal with you again, Jezebel,” he growled, drawing closer and bearing ten-foot fangs. “Release your hostage and I might leave you now with at least enough strength to float away on a broken raft. I’ve learned a great deal since you last faced me, and how to use that knowledge.”

With Jezebel’s attention entirely elsewhere at that moment I morphed Shadow and crept forward along the dock, hoping to reach them and pull Mildew away before she noticed I’d vanished from sight. But Jezebel wasn’t stupid, for all her other faults. She knew after everything she had no chance of leaving Berk alive.

In a flash, Jezebel’s dagger left Mildew’s neck, and she spun it once in her hand before driving the point inward and upward, twisting it as she did so.

“MILDEW!! NOOO!!!”

Someone screamed aloud. It might have been me; it might have been all of us. But, either way it was done. Mildew’s eyes widened, and he slowly looked down at the blade tip protruding out through the left side of his chest, before Jezebel removed the dagger with a sickening noise and he slid limply to the dock.

The first one who reacted was the sea serpent, the tip of his tail whipping out of the water and slamming Jezebel to the dock as well, a ripple of visible power traveling through him and over her. Immediately, the rest of us caught wind of what that meant: our chance to finish this had come.

I rematerialized above Jezebel as Ember drew her nocked arrow and fired, Aurianna whipping out her hand to make the metallic shaft of the projectile and the toxic point straighten under her influence for a perfect shot. From Hiccup came the last gift, an electric charge that I caught and merged with the passing Mysteel arrow a split second before it hit, supercharging the already fatal venom as it drove home, splitting the center of Jezebel’s chest armor and sinking deep.

The sorceress gasped both from the pain of the mortal wound and the fiery burn I’d given the charged venom now racing through her system, before her pupils dilated wide and she slackened across the planks she lay on, a final breath escaping her lips as quietly as the world around us had become.

It was over. However, nearby still lay Mildew, his ragged breaths drawing my attention immediately to him again. My head snapped up and I raced to him, demorphing. As I approached though, the others quickly running up behind me, Mildew only smiled weakly and shook his head.

“It’s over, boy,” he whispered as I knelt next to him and lifted my hand to his chest. “My life has been lived through; better to end it on a better note now than stick around to make the same mistakes everyone still knows me for.”

I shook my head in denial and focused instead on the wound, building the power in my hands to bind it together again and halt the flow of red washing over the planks beneath us. “Mildew, you’re still here and you’re still going to stay around to fight with us you hear me?” I stated firmly.

Mildew waved his hand weakly in response. “Eighty-four years, I’ve seen enough around me. At least I’ve done something worth recognizing now; I’m ready to go.”

I still tried nevertheless, the surge of ethereal light running from my hands and over the wound, the air glowing around us like it always did.

But it never fully took hold. The edges of the gash seemed to bind and hold slightly, but Jezebel had done her dirty work effectively. Too many things were damaged within, and the restoring power never reached its full strength, held back by something I couldn’t see. I had removed some of the pain, but the wound stayed open, and Mildew’s life continued to pour out before us.

I hated it when it had happened to Ember, even more so when it was Stoick, but they both had a chance to live without it. Mildew…it would have been like bringing a soul back from the dead, and for all he had put everyone through he was still a life, one sacrificed for everyone else, and I didn’t have the means to keep him around.

Mildew slowly looked down at my hands, and the healing power failing to save him. “See?” he said quietly. “Your God even says it’s time.” He smiled again, weakly, and with what little strength he had left he grasped mine, pulling it away from the hole in his heart. “I’ve learned, Hawken. I know where we’re all going now, and I don’t fear the prospect. Just…promise me two things.”

I nodded, blinking away the water threatening to build in my eyes and leaning closer. “Make sure I’m-I’m remembered for this, not for…for all the heartache I caused before,” he pleaded. “And Fungus,” he began, before a wretched cough cut him off, wracking him in pain again. I smiled slightly despite everything; even at his deathbed the old man still cared deeply for the wellbeing of his beloved sheep.

“Fungus,” Mildew started again when the coughing halted, taking a deep breath. “Take care of him. He’s all I really had…left. Make…sure he’s…he’s…”

Mildew never finished his sentence. He didn’t need to, as I knew what he wanted, but he never finished all the same. The hand that grasped mine slowly lost its hold and went limp, and the lingering shine in the old man’s eyes faded away. Slowly, I reached up and closed them, before bowing my head. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to see Hiccup standing there next to me, tears welling in his eyes as well. That’s what finally broke it, seeing the rest of them starting to mourn. We all began sobbing, a group embrace crying for a man everyone had hated up until then, who’d now gone against all expectations and given everything for us in return. No words were going to fix that hole, so we just stood there together, letting the pain flow.

* * *

Some time later we slowly began to recompose ourselves, as our attention was drawn by the sea serpent lifting Jezebel’s body away from the dock. “I’ll take care of the sorceress,” he said, turning away. “I shall return presently.” He moved away from us slowly and disappeared into the waves, taking with him the last shell of an evil that the world had known too long. The rest of us simply stood there, looking lost for a time.

“Jezebel feared the giants of this world,” Aurianna spoke up, startling us and drawing our attention as she stared solemnly out to the sea. “Bewilderbeasts, Oceanguards, and the dragons you now call the Red Deaths, along with powerful species like the Stormcutters, Alagaesians and Night Furies. They were creatures with enough willpower that she could never quite gain full control of them like others whom she possessed with her demons. Those she could she won over, getting them to follow her either through loyalty or fear, and the others she sought to kill. The Red Deaths were an entire race she influenced, and modified to her own intent; Bewilderbeasts were secluded enough in their habits that she never succeeded with them. Drago’s is another story, but that was an exception.”

She looked at us momentarily, before her gaze returned to the sea. “The Oceanguards she nearly won over completely, twisting their appearance and their hearts to make them the feared sea serpents of common legend, but there was one we got to before she did. He stuck with my family for the most part, up until they were entrapped by my own hands. Since then we have both believed the other was dead, him because he likely thought I was trapped like the others, me because I believed Jezebel had succeeded in poisoning him.”

Aurianna sighed and looked around, her gaze lingering on Mildew’s body. “All this because I was too weak to stand against her so long ago, and because I ignored the obvious. I –I guess the best I can do now is to offer my services to help you rebuild.” She looked up at each of us, a thin smile appearing. “You saved me, so I am in debt to each of you for that and for all the trouble I have helped cause.”

Aurianna’s gaze fixed on me, and then onto Hiccup when my own eyes looked to him. The chief-to-be scratched the back of his neck skittishly and shrugged. “I…I guess I can’t really say no,” he replied, before looking around at the swaths of rubble and ruin above us on the hillsides and wincing. “A-and we could really use the help. Tonight is going to be hard for everyone.”

A moment later the ocean moved and the serp-excuse me, Oceanguard going by what Aurianna had said- the Oceanguard reappeared, glancing between us and Aurianna.

“So, uh…I’m guessing you’re the one the legends of Jormungandr really came from then?” I queried out of the blue. The reptile grimaced in response. “Unfortunately, yes. I stopped trying to convince the Norse people long ago,” he said, “that the name was not mine but the twisted image Jezebel introduced to wipe my existence fully from history. I am Jordan, named for the river, so it would greatly please me if you call me as such.”

I nodded in assurance, smirking, and Jordan turned his gaze to Aurianna again. “We have a great deal of catching up to do, Aurianna,” he chuckled. “Nine hundred hears is a long time without hellos even if I expected none previously.”

Aurianna laughed at that lighthearted statement. “Yes, yes it is. But first, I must help those who have helped me, and I must see my family again. This young man I was told can contact them directly, and I don’t have the necessary materials with me to do so.”

Jordan’s eyes widened upon that exclamation, and he looked at me. “They were released?” he queried cautiously. I smiled. “Indeed. We have many broken bonds to mend, but I think there’s hope yet now that this is over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the Red Deaths, I never classified sea serpents per se the same as dragons, but descended from a true dragon species instead. Some of the original Oceanguards still exist, as seen here. This one's special too, obviously.


	23. Chadash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter with a unique title; as always with these, anyone want to guess what it means?

_It was a hard time, but it also felt like the moment when everything started over. We were all hurting from our losses, surrounded by the ruin of our homes, but at the same time we all had exactly what we needed to pick ourselves up and repair. A terrifying chapter of our lives was over, the worst past, and that alone made everything somehow just bearable. That evening, we all took moments to mourn, to look back, to reconcile with what had been taken, but then in the weeks to come everything simply seemed to fall off our shoulders. Once more we were happy, and we had new life; we were free._

_~Astrid_

Mildew was not the only soul that we lost to the horrors of war that day. When the evening came, over 50 funeral pyres were set adrift from the bay, carrying upon them warriors we had all come to be familiar with: Bertha’s general Erika, Rolf Svenson of Berk, and Dogsbreath’s apparently close friend Evin, to name only a few.

The elders and children of Berk had been brought back from hiding, with Gobber most notably distraught upon announcement of the manner of Mildew’s death (we later learned of the conversation that had transpired between them). Now, those who had lost friends or family members stood solemnly on the cliffs, watching each and every arrow that flew, lighting the blazes that made their way out to sea. Because of his actions prior to his passing, Mildew received a special recognition, a pyre laced with fresh pine boughs from the forest. We had also made arrangements for Fungus to live with Gobber’s sheep Phil, ensuring the old man’s last wish was fulfilled. For the first time in decades, nearly the entire village shed a tear for the old man.

The event hit Hiccup the hardest though, despite not having lost anyone really close. While we’d all experienced instances like this a couple of times before already, with Stoick still unconscious it fell to the chief’s son to lead the funeral ceremony, reciting the revised lines he’d had to learn over the years and praying for every soul that we were saying farewell to. The only time I’d seen that look on the young man’s face had been when he thought he’d in the same day lost both his father and brother. Truthfully, I think the only thing that kept him standing through the whole ceremony was the fact that Toothless stood steadfast at his side, and Valka stood near as well to provide solace.

Once the tribes had all begun to disperse for the night, I approached Aurianna, who stood alone on the cliffs near where Jordan had chosen an out-of-the-way location to lay. When she saw me, she smiled thinly before her face dropped back to sorrow. Clearly she had been watching the proceedings from afar as well.

“Had I known…” she began, but stopped when I shook my head at the admittance. “Aurianna, as I have had to tell my own friends multiple times recently, there is no honor or comfort, no point in dwelling over the past,” I admonished quietly. “Not one of us has the power to go back, nor should we want to because everything works for a purpose. We can, and are meant, to learn from what has occurred though, and use that wisdom to move forward from here.”

Aurianna nodded slowly. “Yes, I guess you’re right. I shall start, as promised, by helping you and your friends rebuild this place.” She held out her hand, and I took it reassuringly. “Tell all of your friends thank you for pulling me out of that terrible state I was in.”

“I will,” I assured, before smiling and reaching into my pocket. “Speaking of which, something that they promised,” I began, pulling out the short cylinder of metal decorated in letters that Odin had given me many months prior, “you’ve been in that addled mindset for centuries, and I know the one thing that is sure to fix your ailment.”

As I grasped the cylinder and began to turn the carved sections of it, aligning the letters, they began to light up one by one with a soft bluish glow. Aurianna’s eyes lit up with them, and out of the corner of my vision I saw Jordan’s head swing above us to watch with great interest.

“That’s…that’s one of my…” Aurianna stuttered, a smile growing on her face. I chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure you recognize it,” I said, “considering you probably helped make it. I uh, I’ve never used it before myself, so I’m not quite sure what to expect happening, but”-

I was cut off as I turned the last part of the tube into place, hearing a little click. Light raced up the outside edges of the device, and the entire thing began pulsing like a beacon. I stared at it for a few moments, before Aurianna became the one to chuckle.

“Actually, that’s all that really happens,” she said lightly. “Now whoever has the receiver should pick up the notice, and if you and your friends have been telling the full truth then soon….”

Her words died off when, just a little way down the hill from us, the air rippled and opened up, faint traces of light swirling and undulating in the tesseract. Aurianna didn’t move, too shocked by the possibilities after all this time, but I walked down the hill to await the new arrivals.

Moments later, a group of very familiar figures stepped into view, all of them fully dressed up and armed just in the manner I had last seen them, though perhaps slightly more disheveled as they seemed to have recently awoken.

“Hawken my friend!” Odin greeted as he approached, holding his hand on his sword in case of any danger. “Is there trouble here? Has Jezebel returned again?”

I smirked. “Actually, Jezebel has been…thoroughly taken care of as of today. She was here, but I called because there is a far more urgent matter that you all need to attend to.” Odin raised an eyebrow, an expression mirrored by the rest of his family (Fenrir as well, which was almost comical to see), before they followed the gesture of my hand up the hill.

Nine hundred years of thinking someone (or in this case now even _two_ someones) dead, and then seeing them standing before you perfectly alive and well, would bring anyone to shocked silence. Everyone present stood stock still, staring in shock at each other, before Odin finally gathered his wits and took a hesitant step forward.

“A-Aurianna?” he whispered, tears forming in his eyes as he beheld the strawberry-blonde woman before him who was just as close to crying. She nodded, before exclaiming, “Father!”

The ice broke, and they rushed to each other with arms wide, colliding and sinking to the ground in joyful sobs. Freyja and the rest of the family soon rushed in behind Odin and surrounded Aurianna as well, crying unabashedly. In that moment Jordan leaned down toward the group as well, and one of the brothers (still not sure who) managed to recognize him and reached out, grabbing the Oceanguard’s snout and pulling him in to involve him in the embrace as well, the others reaching out and laying hands on both Aurianna and the reptile.

I smiled at the sight, letting a couple of tears fall myself before quietly backing away toward the village. This was a time for them, and them only, and I was sure they’d find me later after they were done catching up and bombard me with unnecessary thanks. For now though, what they needed was simply time together to themselves.

* * *

A month passes quickly when there’s plenty to do. Granted, Vikings are well-versed in rebuilding houses as we all know, and with Aurianna around to help and dragging her family along with her the process went by even faster, but there was still a great deal to be accomplished. Two weeks or so after the battle, the village was back in shape (mostly), and everything was a little better reinforced too thanks to the work of the alchemist.

While she was there, Hiccup and I also managed to find out the actual recipe for making the Mysteel: purified iron (the best kind is that made by Gronckles, a secret Aurianna had discovered long before we had) combined with titanium, and then strengthened using a specific frequency of sound energy of all things. Of course, only Aurianna could combine the raw materials and energy in the proper manner, but she was more than happy to lend us all of the Mysteel we could work with, having felt indebted to us and mystified herself by the secret Hiccup and I had found: our ability to produce Myscale from the metal.

Turns out Aurianna also liked the name I’d had for the metal better than her own (“rolls off the tongue easier,” she said), though I had to admit that I wasn’t the one who’d coined the term.

During the process I also caught Loki hanging around with Hiccup and Toothless a lot, and when I finally managed to corner him and ask, I found out a very interesting detail: back when the Asgard family had been very active in keeping the world in order, and when Night Furies were more common, Loki had struck up a close relationship with the race. Odin and the others attested to it, commenting how the man always seemed to find them wherever they went and had several who stuck to him like glue near their home. With Toothless confirmed as the only remaining Night Fury, Loki was trying to at least keep a strand of that old flame alive by becoming friends with the dragon and his rider. Thus far they’d gotten along well enough, though I could see all of them hiding the sorrow or pity for Loki never being able to rebuild that kinship himself.

Eventually, the restoration finished, and Odin, Aurianna and the other Asgardians bade farewell for the time being, taking charge of the imprisoned soldiers from the battle and sending them off with Jordan to be dealt with before disappearing back through a portal to their own home in northern Europe once more. Berk’s Viking allies, however, stuck around for a while. I don’t know who got it rolling but they had all gotten the idea into their heads that a lifting of spirits was in dire need, so preparation for an impromptu festival went underway almost as soon as the other guardians had left.

Through all the hustle though, Stoick stayed fast asleep. A week after the celebration plans had begun and the other allies had begun bringing in supplies for it on dragon-back, I found myself heading up from the forge toward the Haddock household. Astrid was headed in the same direction, so we met up and walked there together.

Cloudjumper lay atop the house, the Stormcutter dozing away a lazy afternoon when we arrived, and Thornado was stationed along the side of the house, and both their eyes flickered open and turned our way as we approached.

<If you’re looking for Hiccup, he’s inside,> Cloudjumper drawled, affirming our suspicions. We both nodded, and carefully opened the door to step inside.

Hiccup was in the kitchen area preparing something for dinner to be had later (though we’d mostly known beforehand, two months of experience had told all of us his mother was not to be allowed to cook), and Valka was nearby sowing up some sort of torn garment or cloth. Both of them looked over and offered smiles as Astrid and I stepped into the house and took seats around the main table.

“So how is he?” I asked, looking toward the bed where the chief still lay.

“Not much different from when you asked yesterday,” Hiccup remarked sarcastically before he could stop himself. “Hiccup!” Valka warned, catching the ever-present tone, before turning to us. “He’s still healing, but Gothi and Sigrid both said he should be well enough any time now. Good thing too, as he’s lost a lot of weight with only us there to force-feed him.”

Now it was Valka’s turn to be sarcastic as she eyed her husband. “Though not all of that weight will be missed, I’ll admit,” she quipped. We all chuckled a little, before the hall fell into a comfortable silence.

It didn’t stay silent for long, as Toothless decided to join us from Hiccup’s room, and Astrid turned to Hiccup with the question she had apparently actually come up here for.

“By the way, how are you holding up under your temporary position now?” she queried. Hiccup sighed in response. “Well, better than I had originally expected, all things considered, but it still weighs on me more than I’ll ever want. Toothless and I are lucky to escape for our flights for more than a few minutes every day before one of the riders is sent out to lob a new request at us.” He looked at Toothless, and the both of them shared a pitiful expression that I couldn’t help but snort at.

Then I softened up and smiled. “Well, cheer up. It’ll at least get easier again when everyone leaves after the festival.”

“That still means a week of putting up with four whole tribes on the island,” Hiccup replied. “So grow a backbone and use it,” Astrid quipped, not hiding her smirk. “I know you have one in there.” “Gee, thanks for the encouragement, Astrid.” “Any time.”

I saw Valka smirk at the banter between the three of us, before Toothless butted in to interrupt. “Hiccup, as much as I hate to say this, and we both know why, you do have a duty to perform at the arena in a few minutes,” he muttered, glancing at the door. Hiccup groaned, glanced at what I assumed was a soup recipe he’d adapted from my house, and then looked between his mother and girlfriend.

“Alright, I’ll be back shortly,” he sighed. “Mom, Astrid? Don’t even _think_ about touching the stew. Hawken, do me a favor and make sure they don’t? I want it to be edible when I get back.”

I smirked and saluted mockingly. “Yes, sir!”

Hiccup laughed as he set down the spoon and headed out the door as fast as he could to avoid Astrid’s repercussion for his comment, Night Fury in tow.


	24. Epilogue

Stoick groaned as he awoke, drifting out of a thick haze of sleep to a world of aches and lax strength. He felt like every ounce of energy he had had been sucked completely out of him, to the point that he didn’t even feel the motivation to open his eyes. This was not a feeling he was at all accustomed to.

As feeling seeped back into his body, what Stoick did notice was that he was lying underneath a fairly large number of thick blankets, on top of what felt like his bed. Why there were so many blankets piled on him was a mystery when it should have been the middle of summer, and as Stoick’s mind began to piece itself together in a proper semblance of consciousness, he began to wonder why he was in bed. It was certainly not the last place he remembered being.

That’s when Stoick began to truly notice the odd position he had awoken in. These images flashing through his head, weren’t they dreams? He remembered what felt like recent times with Valka, but that couldn’t be right as she’d been dead for nineteen years. No, the last recent memory had to be….he recalled a battle, strewn across a rocky beach, with his son there and Toothless…

Everything rushed back all at the same time, and Stoick’s eyes snapped open. Those memories were not long ago; Valka was back. He remembered too that he had seen Drago, and Hiccup and Toothless confronting the man, before the Bewilderbeast somehow managed to take the dragon over. Stoick had rushed to push Hiccup out of the way, and Toothless had fired. Then…everything was black after that.

Had Toothless actually shot him? How long had he been out afterward? Stoick sat up, becoming immediately and acutely aware of the lightheadedness that washed over him, but the man was determined to bring himself to his feet. He knew he should be thankful he could get up at all, and hadn’t already exited the living world; a Night Fury fireball at point-blank was a death sentence.

Stoick figured already that he couldn’t blame the dragon, not after all they had been through together, and of course Hiccup would never forgive his father if Stoick didn’t forgive Toothless, but first off he needed to find them all to clear everything up. Once more, Stoick focused on the fact that he didn’t even know how long he’d been out, whether or not they were still at war or if he’d been gone for so long that it was already over.

Sliding off the bed and righting himself, wincing at the cold floor always present even during the hottest days in Berk (perhaps that was why all the blankets were there, he reasoned), Stoick moved from the main house where his bed had apparently been positioned for whatever reason and into his room, getting dressed as quickly as he could. Even this took time as he felt incredibly weakened (something he was not used to and was determined never to feel again), and as he headed for the door he even grabbed the staff he had kept around from his own father, just in case a situation like this ever did arise for him (Hiccup never needed it because Toothless always acted like his crutch if something happened). Then, he pulled the front door open and stepped outside.

Stoick didn’t know what scared him more: the absolute silence that encased the village or the complete lack of any signs of battle. Neither one added up in his mind; if they had won the village should have been bustling as usual, and if they had lost, well, he probably wouldn’t have even had a chance to wake up to find out. If battle was yet to come, then where were all the warriors making preparations? And what on earth was causing the shiny look in so many of the buildings around him?

The only rational thought that came to mind was the Great Hall, so Stoick turned in that direction and began hobbling up the path toward the doors in the mountainside. If anyone was still here they would likely be there. At the base of the steps he finally picked up on the great cacophony of noises emanating from the room that the double doors had blocked in, and breathed a sigh of relief; at least it appeared someone was here.

Stoick took the first step up the stairs, and about halfway up he recognized the din from within as celebratory in nature: he could hear Gobber’s drunken yodeling even over the music and yelling of people, an out-of-tune earache that at any other time would have been nearly enough to send Stoick back home, but now it sounded out as an encouragement to the bewildered chief. He hobbled up the last few steps and, with some difficulty, pulled the doors open.

Every Viking and dragon possible was crammed within the modified cavern, all of them celebrating without care. Stoick spotted not only his own tribe, but many of their allies here as well: Bertha and Mogadon were at a table off to the side engaged in a fierce arm-wrestling competition, and Bertha was winning. The Uglithug and Peaceable tribe chiefs were further in the back laughing over mugs of mead, and Stoick managed to spot off to his right some of the teens –Heather, Dogsbreath and Thuggory- with their dragons laughing away at some odd story.

Dancing right in front of the man was Hiccup and Astrid, twirling each other around without a care in the world, and just behind them Stoick beheld the near-comical sight of Valka, who had managed to drag Hawken out with her. Their dragons were up in the rafters above, clearly laughing at their expense.

While the sight of such reveling much relieved Stoick, he still didn’t have any concrete answers, so gathering in as deep a breath as he could, he bellowed out, “Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?!”

* * *

I’m not sure how Valka managed to get me out on the floor with her (while I liked dancing I wasn’t a couples-dancer), but considering Astrid had also dragged Hiccup out with her I at least wasn’t alone. And what the heck, this was a time to have fun! I just had to block out Toothless’ incessant jeering from above me and resist the temptation to knock him off his perch.

What I couldn’t bock out, however, was the sudden and jarring, “Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?!” that came from the front doors of the hall. At that voice, the entire room suddenly went completely and utterly silent as we took in the shocking appearance of the man, somewhat thinner than we were used to but no less imposing, who stood at the door looking a combination of relived, confused, and somewhat irritated at having to rely on a staff to help hold him up.

Almost simultaneously, the entire hall then shouted, “STOICK!!” and Valka and Hiccup immediately broke away from the dance and ran up to him, almost tackling the man to the ground in their embrace.

“You’re awake!” Hiccup shouted ecstatically. “Oh, thank God, you’re finally awake!”

“Why, how long was I out?” Stoick inquired worriedly. “Nearly two months,” Hiccup replied, trying and failing to hide a tear that fell from his eye. “You missed out on our kicking of Jezebel’s rear, permanently.”

Stoick’s face lit up with a grin. “Well, can’t say I’m happy about missing my chance to give the old witch my own punch to the face, but I’m relieved te hear the worst is over.” His eyes lifted up to take in the sight of Toothless leaping excitedly from the rafters and running toward him, tongue lolling out.

“Stoick! I’m so glad you’re alright! I”- he yelled animatedly, but then faltered, slowing down and his face dropping in concern when he realized the last thing Stoick would have remembered, and that he might still hold a grudge for what happened.

Stoick, however, grinned and held out a hand welcomingly. “Come on Toothless, ye didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sure ye took care of the lunatics who put us all into that mess.” Toothless grinned at the statement, nodding as he leapt up again and closed the distance between them. “That I did,” he assured, “and I can assure it will never, ever happen again!”

A few moments of family embrace ensued, with Thornado barreling through the crowd to join Cloudjumper as they completed the little group, before everyone else swarmed in to welcome the chief back.

Amidst the flood of people I managed to squeeze through, and slapped a hand down on Stoick’s shoulder. “Good to have you back in the world of the living,” I said jokingly, smiling. Stoick laughed in response. “Good te be back. Though I may have te request a few days te get my bearings and strength back before I go back te chiefin’ the village.”

“Well, don’t wait too long,” Valka chuckled, “or I think our son might overload.” We all looked over at Hiccup, who blushed from the attention, before laughing again.

Stoick stood up straight again and looked around. “For now though, I think we should get back to the celebration! You’ll have te regale me in the heroic battle, and tell me how everything turned out. I slept through it once already, now I want the full recount!”

“Well, if that’s the case,” Gobber started, hobbling up through the crowd with a mischievous look on his face marred by the evidence of yet another empty mug in hand, “then we should start off with the”-

“Gobber it’s fine, we can tell it!” Hiccup hurriedly interrupted. “And weren’t you on bedside duty during the battle anyway? We’ll take care of the storytelling for now.”

Everyone cracked up at that, especially at Gobber’s disappointed pout at having been cheated of another wild exaggeration, before falling back into the spirit of the party. The Haddocks, Astrid and I retired to a nearby table, soon to be surrounded again by our friends, as we regaled Stoick on all that had happened while he’d been out.

* * *

The celebration proper lasted well into the night, but the festive mood had only gotten stronger especially with the return of the Chief of Berk. Everyone had been put into incredibly high spirits, and we all turned with a cheerful outlook toward the future. Even once the crowd began to filter back to their homes, permanent or temporary, we all had smiles on our faces, and felt like we were ready to take on anything now. After all, there’s not much that tops out beating out a centuries-old sorceress and bringing back together a family separated for just as long, right?

Yeah, right, so we thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, at the end of Book 5. Two more to come in the series; once I thought the next would be the last, but another story turned out needing to be told as well. In any case, while as with the past few books there are still some awkward chapters to come, the next two are the pinnacles of the series, the great wrap-ups and lesson teachers. If you're willing, then I invite you to tag along to Book 6: Echad, We Are One


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